Deep Within the Shadows
by SonicKnuxMiku25096
Summary: This is a bit of a tragic story about a girl named Rachel who gets bullied and mistreated by her parents and kids at school... But when Sonic finds her, he finds a way to give her one special gift... the abillity to find happiness deep within the shadows.
1. Chapter 1,2 and 3

Deep Within the Shadows

Prologue:

_How can the world outside be so calm when my own world is falling apart? _Rachel sat there every day after being bullied and tortured at school. She watched other people laugh and play, strolling around without a care in the world. She wished she could do that. She wished she could simply let go of the past and watch it fly away like a bird. If only it were that simple.

The wind blew at her back, causing her wavy hair to thrust in front of her and twirl around. _How does the wind do that? How does it simply blow through everything without a care in the world? _She let go of a deep breath that she felt like she had been holding in for years. Her yellowish green eyes stared at the clouds as they drifted by. _Will the tide ever turn? Will life get any easier? No, _she told herself, _never. _The world was floating by slowly, slowly, ever so slowly…. She wanted it to end….. She wanted life to end…..

"Hey, you're not falling asleep in the middle of the park are you?" Rachel's eyes widened in fear and she screamed at the top of her lungs. A boy behind her laughed as she whirled around.

"Gee, sorry 'bout that. I guess I'm a little too-.." he stopped in mid-sentence and gaped at Rachel. She was frozen, not daring to blink even once. She was staring at him with vulnerability in her face that was clearly noticeable. She couldn't believe it. A blue hedgehog? It wasn't completely uncommon, but she still found it interesting…. Interesting and frightening. The hedgehog smiled and did a flirty whistle at her.

"Wow, you're- I mean, you look- beautiful." He blushed and took a step towards Rachel. She began shaking all over, her pupils shrinking. _Why isn't it over? _She thought miserably. _Why isn't it over? _He stopped and looked at her curiously.

"Hey, are you ok? Look, I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you think." He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Rachel started taking short, quick breaths. She could hear the torture about to come, feel the fists come clashing into her face.

"No…..no…" she whispered, her voice getting progressively louder.

"Hey, calm down," he urged.

"No…..no….no….no….. NO!" She screamed as loud as she could, and before the hedgehog knew what was happening, she shoved him to the ground and ran down the path, her eyes tearing up rapidly. _Never again. _She promised herself, _Never again. _He watched her leave in confusion. _I have to find out what's been happening to her. _He thought decidedly.

Chapter One:

Rachel ran all the way to her home in Owen Lane. She was calmly seated on her porch, thinking hard about many things that had happened to her. She stared at her hands and let her tears fall from her face. She thought there was no hope. That no one would help her. She thought of how it all almost ended….. All of her pain and suffering, all of her misery… If only she would've jumped like she wanted to… She shook her head furiously. If only she had someone to talk to, someone she could tell everything to. Her parents wouldn't understand, her sister wouldn't either, and everyone at school teased her… Then, out of nowhere, she thought of the blue hedgehog. He had said that he wasn't going to hurt her, that he thought she was beautiful. That was the first time anyone had told her that. If only she hadn't freaked out….. She didn't even know his name! She shut her eyes tight. How could she have been so blind, so stupid? She pinched her arm as hard as she could in frustration. She screamed after the pain got too intense. Her arm was bleeding, and she started crying harder than ever. Then, a gentle hand wiped the tears off her face.

"Why are you torturing yourself?" Rachel looked into the eyes of the hedgehog she had encountered before. He smiled down at her as she hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"It's ok," he whispered, "you can cry if you want to. I won't tell anyone." So, Rachel rested her head on his chest and cried. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but it felt good to be with someone she could trust.

Chapter Two:

Rachel spent much of her time after school with the hedgehog. She learned that his name was Sonic, he loved chili dogs, and that he loved making people laugh. He especially loved making Rachel laugh. Although he didn't attend school, he had been seeing how the other kids tormented Rachel everywhere she went, and how her parents abused her. He felt that she needed someone to talk to, to bring her happiness. And it appeared that he was successful. Sometimes he would sneak through her window when she wanted to talk to him.

One day, at about 5 p.m., Rachel was huddled on her bed, hugging her knees tightly as the room shook slightly and the sound of screaming and things being thrown across the room filled the air. She had her blinds up with a single light flashing through the window, which was her sign to Sonic that something-bad-is-happening-please-help. She felt her eyes burn as tears began forming. She started shaking slightly. _Please come soon, Sonic. _The room shook slightly as her mom's voice grew progressively louder. She pressed her hands against her ears and clenched her teeth together. Then, she felt something wrap around her shoulders.

She gasped slightly as Sonic whispered to her, "It's ok. I'm here." Rachel turned around and let him hold her.

"Sonic….." she whimpered, "Oh Sonic…." He gave her a small smile and kissed her lightly on the forehead. This had been one of the many occasions where Rachel had to stay locked up in her room listening to her parents fight with her sister. Rachel always needed Sonic to be there in those situations so that she didn't break down. And he would always be there. After school, Rachel met up with Sonic down a path outside her neighborhood. (Her parents never cared when she got home.) They would climb up a tree and talk about anything that was on their minds. Sonic usually only talked to two people for long periods of time; Rachel, and his best friend, Knuckles. There were other animals like him and Knuckles on the planet, but he liked talking to Rachel the most. He felt like he had to protect her as much as he could. But one day, he was too late to help her.

Chapter Three:

Rachel got off the bus and briskly walked to the entrance of the neighborhood. The boys did their usual routine of yelling at her, mocking her, and pulling her hair. But she honestly didn't care anymore. All she was worried about was meeting with Sonic. She felt strongly about him, and she wanted to tell him. She didn't care if he liked her back, but she had never had a crush on a guy before in her life. Was it truly love? Or was it all just a fantasy? Rachel reached the tree in a breeze. She climbed to the top of it and kicked her legs anxiously. _Where is he? _She waited nervously, hoping that nothing had happened to him. She looked around, hoping to see him soon.

"Hey you ugly broad!" Rachel froze, her body shaking and her eyes widening. _Oh no. _She took deep breaths and stared at her boots. The boys came underneath the tree and stared up at her.

"What's the matter? Has your hideous face finally gotten you kicked out of the neighborhood? It's about time!" The other boys laughed. Rachel took a long, deep breath, held her head up, looked them in the eye and smiled as she stated, "Well, at least I'm not a monstrous snot-eating fathead who sniffs glue in his basement for fun!" The boys stared at her in shock. Rachel smiled even wider. That was the first time Rachel had ever stood up for herself. She felt… alive. The boys yelled up at her.

"Don't you have other places to be? Like…oh, I don't know, in your room crying and cutting yourself?" Rachel laughed.

"I don't cut myself, you bone head!"

"Then go hang yourself in your bathroom! Or…..better yet…" he grinned and nodded at the other boys, "we'll hang you right on this tree!" Rachel screamed as they reached up and yanked her down. They pulled her on her feet and punched her in the eye. She fell onto the pavement. They picked her up again. Two boys held her arms as the other one punched and kicked her all over her body. She cried out in pain as he hit her harder and harder. Suddenly, the two boys threw her to the ground and all three of them started to kick her. She cringed with every blow, her body pounding with pain. One of the boys picked her up yet again and pinned her against the tree. Rachel could only see through one eye. Her curly hair was in front of her face and she could see the white streak. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see one of the boys tying a rope on the tree branch, making a loop on the end of it. Rachel couldn't move at all. Her body was weak from pain and agony. The boy yanked her off the tree and put her by the rope. The boys grinned.

"No one can save you now, harpy." They placed her neck inside the loop of the rope and tightened it around her neck. She cried out in pain, her air stopping short. She put her hands on the rope and tried to pull it off, but she was too weak. She kicked around and tried as hard as she could to breath. She felt her neck bone crunching in on her throat. It was harder and harder for her to see. She stopped kicking around. The boys ran off down the path, and everything went black as her body went limp.

Sonic ran as fast as he could. He raced on the sidewalk, avoiding as many people and roads as possible. He had a sick feeling in his gut that Rachel was in deep trouble. He ran up to the entrance of the neighborhood. He squinted down the path to try and see Rachel. He stopped breathing when he saw her dangling from the end of a rope on the tree. His heart pounded. He felt like it was going to explode inside of him. He finally came to his senses and ran up the path.

"RACHEL!" He got to the tree and untied her. He laid her down on the ground and held her head. Her body was bloody and bruised everywhere. Even her white cami was torn and her jeans and boots were scuffed with dirt and a little blood. Sonic nervously touched her wrist with two fingers. He sighed as he felt a small, almost silent heartbeat. _She's alive. _He picked her up gently and ran up the road, heading straight towards the hospital, not once slowing down or hesitating.


	2. Chapter 4, 5 and 6

Chapter Four:

Sonic held her hand tight. He prayed over and over again that she would wake up. He looked at her face. It was badly bruised, her right eye swollen and purple, her nose a darker purple, (it had already been broken once, so it already had a permanent purple spot) and her cheek a dark color of both red and purple. The rest of her body was in the same shape, but her neck was the worst. The bone in it had been pushed back and almost completely collapsed in on her throat. Sonic pushed her hair out of her face and looked at her sadly. The doctors had said that she wasn't going to be able to move very much once she woke up. Sonic kissed her forehead lightly.

"Come on, kiddo, you got to make it through this…. You just have to…" He slowly brought up the courage inside of himself. He had to tell her….. He whispered something in her ear.

"You need to make it through this because….. because….." he paused, still trying to find the confidence he needed. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, Rachel groaned softly and slowly opened her eyes. Sonic squeezed her hand tighter. Rachel looked over at him without moving her head.

"S-Sonic…..?" she muttered.

"Rachel….." He stroked her arm. She groaned and gasped. She choked back tears as she stared into his eyes. Sonic closed his eyes and placed his forehead on hers.

"It's ok to cry," he whispered, "No one else is watching." So Rachel sobbed slightly and sniffled a few times. She cried out in pain when she tried to say something.

"Take it easy kiddo," he said, "just whisper it. I'll be able to hear you." Rachel opened her mouth as far as she could without being in excruciating pain. Sonic leaned closer to her.

"I wanted to tell you something," she breathed. Sonic felt his heart rate quicken.

"What is it?"

"I…..I…." She spoke even softer. "I love you." Sonic felt his body fill with excitement. She loved him! She actually _loved _him! He smiled sweetly.

"I was going to tell you something too." Rachel's left eye widened slightly. He whispered into her ear, "I love you too." Rachel smiled, her mouth twitching, tears still falling down her face.

"R-Really?" she stuttered. Sonic nodded.

"I do. I have for a long time now. We've only known each other for four months, but I feel like I've known you forever." She closed her eyes, a warm smile spread across her face.

"This is the happiest I've ever been," she whispered. Sonic pulled the blankets farther up her body and left her alone to sleep.

Rachel remained in the hospital for a week. Her parents had come to "visit" her on the third day. When the nurse had told Sonic, he snorted and replied, "The only thing they'll ever do is keep her in that bed for years!" But the nurse decided to ask Rachel if she wanted to see them anyways. Rachel's eyes widened.

"I don't wanna see them…. Th-they probably came here just to see how much I'm suffering!"

"But they're your parents!" the nurse insisted.

"They don't care about me….. All they've ever done is yell at me….. Heck, they barely gave me enough food to last me all these years!"

"But surely they-…"

"I DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM!" Her heart rate monitor skyrocketed, the beeps booming loudly with no end. Sonic burst through the curtains.

"What happened? What's wrong with her?" Rachel's body loosened and her head fell back. The heart rate monitor slowed down, the beeps softer. Sonic rushed to her side.

"Rachel? Rachel?"

"She's simply unconscious," the nurse said, "Don't worry. I won't be bringing her parents in here. I know that the stress of it will no doubt kill her."

By the seventh day Rachel had made tremendous progress. She could move a lot easier and her face was turning back from purple to peach. She could open her left eye completely, but her right eye was still a little swollen, though she could open it halfway. She could speak louder, her voice becoming stronger each day. She loved being able to spend time with Sonic, but she was worried about one thing. She twiddled her thumbs as she gazed into her lap.

"Um….. Sonic?" she asked timidly.

"Yes, kiddo?"

"I was wondering…. Now that we know how we feel for each other…. And now that my parents will definitely not take me in, I was wondering…. Where am I going to stay?"

Sonic smiled and replied, "I have just the place. It's where I usually stay when I'm not out and running around. It's in the perfect place, you'll love it!" He thought for a moment before adding, "I'll get you out of here in no time. I promise." Rachel blushed and kept her head down. Sonic took his finger and gently lifted her chin. He stared into her green eyes. She felt goose bumps rise up her arms. Sonic leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

Chapter Five:

Three days later, Rachel admitted herself out of the hospital. When the nurse had asked where her parents were, Sonic simply replied for her.

"They're out of town, so I'm taking care of her." She looked from Rachel, to Sonic, then back at Rachel, and said nothing else. Sonic picked Rachel up and rushed her out. Rachel screamed as he ran faster and faster. He laughed.

"What's wrong? Never gone this fast, have you?"

"N-No!" She buried her head in his chest and shut her eyes, her grip around his neck getting tighter. He skidded to a stop. He whispered in Rachel's ear, "It's ok. You can open your eyes now." She slowly opened her eyes and loosened her grip. She gasped as she gazed at the scene before her. The soft roar of the waterfall filled her ears. A faded rainbow appeared just above the pond. Trees full of every color of flower loomed all around. Sonic let Rachel stand to her feet. She slowly walked forward and sat down on the rocks at the edge of the crystal clear water. She dipped her feet and felt the cool water cover them. Sonic sat beside her. He hugged her close to himself. Rachel stared out at the waterfall.

"This place is beautiful…." She whispered. Sonic smiled.

"I knew you would love it."

"But…. Just one problem….."

"What is it?"

"Where's your house you were talking about?" Sonic laughed.

"I'll show you later. Right now though, I just want you to enjoy this moment." Rachel smiled up at him. She leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. They leaned back against the rocks, completely ignoring everything around them. Footsteps came closer to them, but neither of them noticed. They both jumped as someone cleared their throat.

"So, Blue, this is the person you spend all your time with." Sonic and Rachel stared at him with wide eyes. Sonic suddenly realized that he was still on top of Rachel. He blushed as he scrambled off of her.

"Listen, Red, it's none of your business who I spend my time with!" Rachel blushed too as the red echidna stared at her. She stared at her feet. Sonic, feeling completely embarrassed started to push him away. But the echidna dug his heels into the ground.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to her?" Sonic laughed. "Fine, whatever floats your island." He made a hand gesture towards Rachel. "Knuckles, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Knuckles." Knuckles smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hi." She replied shyly, barely looking up at him. Sonic then quickly pushed him further back. Knuckles kept looking at Rachel. He grinned.

"Where'd you find a pretty face like that?"

"Nonya."

"Ah, I see. I take it you two have kicked it up a notch from what you last told me?" Sonic nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you could say we're dating now." Knuckles raised one eyebrow.

"You guess?"

"Look, we told each other that we had feelings for each other about a week ago. Yes, we've kissed a few times, but I'm still not entirely sure if we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend." Knuckles grinned.

"Look Sonic, I know you better than a lot of people. I can already tell that she is totally into you, and that you are totally into her. From what I just saw, you two are dating, and you're doing fine." Sonic smiled.

"Thanks bud. Be sure to keep in touch."

"I will." They did a fist bump and Knuckles started to run off. He stopped and turned around.

"But seriously though, how a guy like you ended up with a beautiful girl like that, I'll never know." Sonic laughed. "Just get out of here would you!" Knuckles smiled and ran off.

Sonic ran back to Rachel. "Sorry about that," he said. Rachel looked at him. "It's ok." He sat next to her again. "What's wrong? You don't look so good." Rachel nodded.

"I'm fine. I just feel kind of tired." She rested her head on his shoulder. He picked her up and began walking through the forest.

"I think it's best if I take you to our new place now." He kept walking until he hit a small clearing. A moderate house sat in the center surrounded by rays of sunlight. Sonic carefully took Rachel inside and laid her down on a soft bed in her own room. Her body relaxed and she almost immediately fell asleep. Sonic kissed her forehead.

"See you in the morning," he whispered. He left her room as she fell into a deep, pleasant dream.

Chapter Six:

Rachel slowly woke up inside of her new home. She bolted upright, at first not remembering that she was in a new house. After looking around for a few seconds, she slowly remembered everything that had happened. She smiled, ready to start her new life. She cautiously opened the door and peaked around the corner. She noticed that the bed on the other side had its sheets all over, but Sonic was not in it.

She slowly tip-toed inside and searched around. She thought the kitchen was huge compared to the one at her other house (considering the fact that she never really saw her kitchen that much). She explored the rest of the house and even looked into the attic. She thought it would be a nice little place to hide, even though it was only beams. After exploring for awhile, she decided to sit on the couch and wait for Sonic to come back. She felt a little nervous being all by herself. A small snap came from just outside and the doorknob started to turn. Rachel screamed and curled into a ball, afraid that someone was going to hurt her. She knew that she couldn't escape from it! How could she have been so stupid?

"Rachel?" Sonic placed his hands gently on her shaking shoulders. She looked up. "Sonic?" He smiled at her.

"It's ok, kiddo. It's just me." Rachel hugged him close.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"I know. It's gonna get tough to get used to this. But cheer up. You'll get over it." He kissed her forehead. "I promise." She looked behind him at the small wrapped gift lying on the coffee table. She stared at it.

"What's that for?" Sonic looked at back and picked up the small gift.

"This? Oh, it's your birthday present!" Rachel stared at the neatly tied blue bow wrapped around the small red box.

"You… You know that it's my birthday?"

"Yeah, you told me, remember?" It had been a few months ago. They had both been talking to each other like usual when Sonic had told her when his birthday was. He had asked her when her's was, but she barely remembered. The thing was, no one ever celebrated Rachel's birthday, so she usually forgot about it.

_Do people always get gifts on their birthday? _She gently lifted the small box from his hands. She slowly untied the ribbon, afraid of damaging its delicate state. She lifted up the lid and gasped as she gazed down at a sparkling sapphire attached to a diamond necklace. She dared not to touch it.

"Sonic…" she whispered, "Where did you get this?" Sonic smiled.

"Knuckles is somewhat of a treasure hunter. It wasn't hard for him to find it." He picked up the box and set it to the side. He went to the door and pulled out another box from under a table. He put it onto the coffee table. He grinned at Rachel.

"I thought that you also might like this." Rachel stared at him with wide eyes.

"You got me another gift?" He nodded. She once again slowly unwrapped the box and pulled out a black and white strapless dress with a black rose printed on the bottom. She carefully examined it.

"I've never worn a dress before…."

"I think you'd look pretty in a dress," Sonic said. Rachel blushed and nodded, slowly rising and walking towards her room. She closed the door and changed into the dress. She opened the door and walked out. Sonic looked at her and smiled.

"You look beautiful…" She blushed brighter and walked closer to him. He carefully picked up the necklace. Rachel sat down and held her hair up. His fingers brushed her skin as he put the necklace on and laid it on her neck. He turned her around. He smiled sweetly again and kissed her.

"Happy Birthday Rachel," he whispered. She smiled and kissed him back.

After kissing for awhile, Sonic got up and went into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a small vanilla cake with white frosting and small flower designs. Rachel gaped at it.

"Sorry, I was afraid to get one too big since it's only the two of us…"

"Small? This thing looks huge!" Rachel exclaimed. Sonic laughed. "To me it isn't, but ok!"

"So… people eat cake on their birthday too?"

"Yep. Dig in!" Rachel ate a small piece (to her it was large), and she yawned, already tired. It was only 9 o'clock in the morning! She rested her head on Sonic's shoulder and smiled, closing her eyes and thinking, _This is the best day of my life!_


	3. Chapter 7, 8 and 9

Chapter Seven:

For the next few weeks, Rachel felt as though God had answered her prayers. A new light had come into her life, and it made her feel like she had been reborn, given a second chance. Reality seemed to have evaporated right before her eyes. This forest with a gentle waterfall and a welcoming place she could call home was completely separate from the rest of the world. But some weird sickening feeling in her stomach told her that it wouldn't last forever… She tried to ignore this feeling as long as possible.

But one day, when the feeling couldn't be fought off, Rachel voiced her concerns to Sonic.

"Sonic," she asked nervously, her voice shaking.

"What's up?" Rachel was sitting on the couch, absently staring at her hands in her lap.

"It's probably nothing to worry about, really, but… for a little over a week now, I've had this sickening feeling that… that all of this happiness, all of this time away from the real world is going to end eventually." Sonic stared at her with concern as her eyes filled with sorrow. He had seen that look before, although it had been awhile. When he had first seen Rachel in the park almost a year ago, her eyes had been full of fear and sorrow. Nothing more, nothing less. He had seen it when she had tortured herself on the porch, when she was in her room, listening to her parents argue with her sister, when she woke up in the hospital… But whenever she went to see Sonic, her beautiful eyes filled with joy and laughter. When she came running down the path, when Sonic told her that he loved her, when he first kissed her, when he brought her to the forest… Anytime she was with him, her eyes gleamed with pure happiness. It was something Sonic cherished. Seeing her happy was all that he had ever wanted. He never truly understood how anyone could damage such a beautiful girl.

Now, sitting there on the couch, that broken, lost look returned in her eyes. He wanted to erase it… to never see it again. He wanted to promise Rachel an eternity of happiness. He sat down beside her and held her hands tight.

"The joy you feel when you're here will last for all of eternity, Rachel. I promise," Sonic assured her. Rachel tried to look at him with love, but all that that showed up was desperation. She tried to crack out a smile, but her mouth twitched, as though smiling was no longer possible. A tear escaped her eyes. Rachel angrily squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop herself.

_Don't cry… _She thought desperately, _don't cry. _But it was too late now. Before she knew what was happening, a stream of water was running down each of her cheeks, and she was whimpering in sorrow, her face buried in her hands. What was wrong with her? Why was this sudden sadness coming over her? There was no reason to cry! Her life had flipped upside-down! She was happier than she had ever been! But that terrible feeling of breaking, of an end…It was too much. Sonic tenderly pulled her into his arms, and kissed her forehead lightly like usual and stroked her head lightly.

"It's ok Rachel. Maybe this sudden turning point has caused some sort of shock in your head. It'll go away." Rachel sniffed and looked up into his kind eyes. She leaned her head onto his chest.

"Sonic…"

Although Rachel tried to take Sonic's words to heart, she still couldn't get rid of her feelings of losing everything. She wasn't the same. How could she be the same? Not while these thoughts were rushing through her head. Sonic always asked her if she was all right with concern on his face, but Rachel simply pasted a fake smile on her face and said that nothing was wrong. She wished that she didn't have to keep her feelings from him, because it was eating her up inside. But why was it happening? That was her biggest question. Why was she all of a sudden feeling this way…?

Sonic was struggling to find out how to make Rachel feel better. Clearly whatever she had talked to him about before was causing her to suffer. So, he decided to try to keep his promise to her. He briefly told Rachel that he was leaving for a little while, then ran off towards Angel Island.

Chapter Eight:

"Knux, please, I really need it!"

"No! Sonic, are you sure this is even the right time?"

"This may be the only time! If I don't do something fast, then things may fall apart forever!"

"But…"

"Knux, please! For me and Rachel!" Knuckles sighed then reluctantly handed Sonic a small black box.

"Whatever you do, make sure she says yes." Sonic beamed at him and nodded.

"Thanks Buddy." And with that, he ran back off the island and back towards the forest.

Rachel could barely bring herself to even attempt to lie down for the night. Sonic still hadn't returned, and now her terrible thoughts of a bad end grew immensely stronger. She imagined a million terrible ways that Sonic might have disappeared or died. All of them meant a long, miserable life for her. She hugged her knees close to her body as she trembled from the awful visions. Sonic falling off the edge of a cliff and hitting the sharp rocks at the bottom… Sonic drowning in a lake since he couldn't swim… Sonic getting ran over by a car because he couldn't get across the road fast enough…

Rachel held her head and shook it furiously, tears streaming down her face. As the images kept pouring into her brain, she let out a scream of frustration and despair.

Right in the middle of her scream, Sonic came bursting in through the door. He was stunned at the frantic state Rachel was in.

"Rachel!" He dropped the tiny box he was holding and instantaneously rushed to her side. He firmly grabbed her shoulders and tried to snap her back to reality.

"Rachel! Rachel! Rachel, it's me, Sonic! Everything's ok, I'm back! Please, stop screaming!" Rachel slowly stopped her frantic cries and turned looked up at the blue hedgehog with relief and bewilderment.

"S-Sonic?" The room slowly came back into focus. But for whatever reason, the room still felt like it was going in a rapid spin. Sonic's firm grasp kept her from toppling to the side of the couch. Her head wouldn't stop switching between her dreams and reality. She saw his mouth move, but his words did not hit her ears. She could see the concern in his face deepen. His lips were moving faster and wider. Rachel's eyes began to close slowly. She felt her lips mouth the word, "Sonic," but she was not sure whether they made a sound or not. Before either of them knew what was happening, Rachel felt her stomach go to her throat as she threw up on the couch.

Rachel's body wouldn't stop constantly turning in bed as if it couldn't find a comfortable position. A nightmare worse than all the others haunted her as she slept…

_"Today is going to be the happiest day of my life," Sonic said as he held Rachel's hand in the back seat of a black car. Rachel smiled at him and nodded. _

_"This is also going to be the happiest day of _my _life!" _

_"Ha! What a coincidence!" They both laughed happily. They were both silent for a while after that. They weren't looking at each other, but each of them had a smile on their faces that looked like it could never be taken from them, no matter what happened. As Sonic stared out the window and into the streets that were moving by, Rachel looked down at the floor, a slight rosy color rising in her cheeks. She held Sonic's hand tighter and leaned up against his arm. Sonic looked at her lovingly and leaned forward. He passionately kissed her lips, putting one hand on her cheek. Rachel leaned into the kiss, completely unaware of the bright headlights coming right towards their car. As the horn started to blare, Sonic opened his eyes and put his body in front of Rachel's as fast as he could. Then, as the light grew brighter and brighter at the speed of light, everything suddenly went black…_

_Rachel painfully made her way out of the car wreck, her body aching worse than it ever had before. She yelled out in agony, her legs barely sliding out from under the massive weight of one of the wheels. She crawled on her hands and knees, glancing at a piece of glass. She saw a line of blood running down her forehead. She groaned in pain and moved on. She barely had enough strength to mutter, "Sonic… Sonic, are you here?" Her vision was too clouded to see anything. She patted the ground carefully as she moved. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she felt one of Sonic's gloved hands. She quickly scrambled to his side, ignoring all of her pain. She shook him slightly._

_"Sonic! Sonic, get up! Sonic, we have to go! Son-…" She stopped short. Her eyes caught something sharply. Sonic's eyes were open, but there was no life in them. Rachel felt a few pieces of glass stuck in his chest. She cried out in sorrow and put her head on his stomach. She began sobbing uncontrollably…_

Rachel gasped as she sat up in fright. She felt beads of sweat standing on her face. She tried to get that awful nightmare out of her head. Sonic ran into the room.

"Rachel! Are you ok?" Rachel slowly nodded, although she knew perfectly well that Sonic knew she wasn't.

"It was just a stupid nightmare," she muttered, although Sonic still wasn't convinced. But he smiled and tried to go along with it. He had something he needed to do in order to keep his promise…

"Rachel… There's something I want to ask you," he said somewhat nervously. Rachel looked at him curiously.

"What is it?" The small box inside his glove started to feel heavier. He pulled it out.

"Rachel… Do you remember how I promised you that the happiness you felt here would last for eternity?" Rachel nodded, her eyes locked on the box. Sonic smiled brighter.

"Well, now I have a sure way to keep that promise." He knelt down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a small, beautiful diamond ring. As it shimmered in the sunlight streaming through the window, Rachel felt her mouth drop open slightly. Her mouth couldn't even begin to form words.

"Rachel…" Sonic said, his voice staying firm, "will you marry me?" Rachel felt a tear escape her eyes, but they were no longer tears of sorrow and pain: They were tears of love and joy. Rachel smiled happily. She nodded and replied, "Yes, of course I will!" Sonic beamed at her and took the ring out. He gently grabbed Rachel's left hand and slowly slid the ring on her ring finger. She leapt off of the bed and hugged Sonic tighter than ever. Sonic hugged her back and kissed her forehead. _Now, _he thought pleasantly, _we can be happy forever. _

Chapter Nine:

The horrible nightmares and visions Rachel was having slowly began to subside day after day. Sonic and Rachel wasted no time in planning the wedding. They decided to make it a private wedding with just them and the pastor. They wanted to have it in a secret part of one of the local parks that Sonic had found on one of his adventures. Sonic went to find the perfect wedding band for Rachel's ring while Rachel went to find the perfect wedding dress. Rachel went to the nearest dress store to find something that she thought Sonic would consider a stunning dress. She had no idea what would look good on her since the only dresses she wore were the ones that Sonic gave her. So, she based the dresses she tried on off of the ones that Sonic bought for her. Wearing them wasn't as bad as before since she wore dresses almost three times a week. She tried on dresses with roses designed in the fabric, jewels bedazzled on the top, V necklines, strapless and bodice ruching.

After what felt like a million dresses later, Rachel finally found the dress. It was a mermaid style dress with a sweetheart neckline and a ruffled skirt. It was strapless with a small bejeweled heart belt around the waist. Rachel turned several times, unable to take her eyes off of herself in the mirror. She looked at the dress at every angle. She grinned at herself as she did one final twirl. The fabric of the skirt swirled around her perfectly. She felt like a princess in a fairytale, getting ready to go to the ball and marry her prince. As the skirt settled again, the attendant carefully placed a sheer veil on her head. Rachel smiled brighter and thanked her. As she continued to admire herself, she began to think about how just a year ago, she had never complimented herself. She had always tortured herself. She had almost ended her own life through her own window.

Her mind filled with fanciful visions of her walking down the grass aisle with her gorgeous dress, Sonic adoring her. As she held his hand hearing the pastor eternally create their bond, she couldn't stop herself from releasing tears of joy. As they made their kiss that confirmed their marriage, they walked off into the sunset together…

Rachel opened her eyes and once again appreciated the new life that she had. She cherished the beautiful things that she had never seen about herself before she met Sonic. Before that fateful day in the park, she never thought of herself as beautiful. She had only insulted herself. She now saw what Sonic had been talking about. She completely forgot all of the horrible visions and especially that terrible, tragic nightmare…

Sonic paced back and forth in front of the roaring waterfall. What was he going to say for his vows? What if, for some reason, Rachel thought she wasn't ready for marriage and said "I don't?" He twiddled the wedding band around in his shaking palm. Man, what was he going to do!? Their wedding was tomorrow! How was he ever going to get the words out of his mouth!? He was absolutely certain that this was the most nervous he had ever felt in his life. As his mind raced with nerves, his thoughts strayed back to the hysteria Rachel had been through the past week…

What had that been all about? Why was she out of the blue having crazy dreams? He shrugged to himself and shook his head. _Oh well… It doesn't matter now… By this time tomorrow, I'll be married to the greatest girl on the planet. _He smiled slightly and headed back to the house, all of his nerves disappearing with each footstep.

"Rachel, are you almost ready?"

Rachel groaned. "Impatient much?" Sonic laughed.

"Yeah, I kind of am! After all, this is the most important day of our lives!"

"Ok, ok, I get it! Don't make me even more nervous!"

"Can you _please _hurry?"

"OK, I'm done, jitterbug!" Sonic turned toward the bathroom door and felt his mouth drop open involuntarily. Although Rachel wasn't wearing her dress yet, Sonic still thought she looked alluring in her makeup, her hair still down, but slightly shinier. Rachel smiled at him and blushed.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, feeling flustered. Sonic blinked a few times, completely speechless. He was struggling to find the right words to use.

"You… You look… angelic," he decided. This was the first time Rachel had ever worn makeup in her life. Sonic tried to convince her that she didn't need to put makeup on, but Rachel said that this was an extremely special occasion, so she felt like she had to. She didn't put that much on: Just a little blush, cover-up for under her eyes and on her nose, as well as some eyeliner and eye shadow. But she only wore dark tan colors, nothing too colorful. She walked up to Sonic and took his hand.

"Are you ready?" Sonic smiled at her and nodded.

"Of course."

As they reached the main road, Rachel saw the black car that was going to take them to the park. As she looked around, she noticed humans and animals walking up and down the sidewalks. She smiled, glad that the various species could live together in harmony. Sonic led her to the car. He opened the door for her and made a gesture for her to go first, his head bowed. Rachel laughed.

"Look who magically became a gentleman over night!"

"Shut up…" Rachel took Sonic's hand as she lifted herself into the backseat of the car. Sonic sat next to her and closed the door. He sighed and held Rachel's hand as the engine of the car started. As they started to move through the street, Sonic said, "Today is going to be the happiest day of my life." Rachel smiled at him and nodded.

"This is also going to be the happiest day of _my _life!"

"Ha! What a coincidence!" They both laughed happily. Rachel stopped her laugh short. _Wait a second… _She felt like this was déjà vu… But she shrugged the feeling off and smiled again. She looked at the floor, a slight rosy color rising in her cheeks. She held Sonic's hand tighter and leaned up against his arm. Sonic looked at her lovingly and leaned forward.

Suddenly, Rachel felt her face break out in a cold sweat. Now she knew where she had seen this before… That cruel nightmare. It was actually happening… The nightmare was coming to life right before her eyes. Sonic passionately kissed her lips, putting one hand on her cheek. But instead of leaning into the kiss like in the dream, Rachel leaned away from him and tried to push Sonic out of the way. But as the headlights of the car coming towards them grew brighter, she knew that she was too late…


	4. Chapter 10, 11 and 12

Chapter Ten:

Everything happened in a split second… Sonic tried to protect Rachel from the impact of the crash while Rachel tried to get both of them out of the way… The other car completely smashed into the front of their car, and it didn't stop there. It crunched the entire front of the car into the back of it. Sonic barely got Rachel out of the back window in time. Although he knew he wasn't going to be able to get out, as long as Rachel was safe, that's all he cared about. As the wreck finally slowed to a stand-still, Rachel fell to the ground, feeling pain worse than anything she had ever felt before. She gradually opened her eyes and saw Sonic lying on the ground face down, his head turned towards her. Rachel felt her body give in to the agony and slip into a state of senselessness.

Knuckles was casually walking down the street with his arms folded behind his head. He was curious as to how Sonic's proposal had gone… He hadn't heard anything from Sonic ever since he had asked for the ring. He felt happy for Sonic if that girl did say yes. What was her name? Knuckles shook his head. _It doesn't matter now. All I know is that she did have a beautiful face. _He closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered what she looked like. Her eyes were a perfect mixture of green and yellow… The curls in her milk chocolaty brown hair fell flawlessly on her shoulders… The white streak in her hair only magnified her peach cheeks… He stopped his pleasant thoughts short. What was he doing?! Sonic was going to _marry _her! How could he think of her like that when she was going to be married to his best friend?! He sighed and continued walking, thinking about the other result of the proposal. If that girl had actually said no (which Knuckles had no idea why she would), then Sonic would be devastated. Whatever Sonic had been talking about when he said, "If I don't do something fast, things may fall apart forever!", well, things definitely would've fallen apart. He frowned as he continued to think of how sad his friend would be if she had said no…

_SCREEEEEECH! _Knuckles turned his head curiously behind him and saw two cars come colliding into each other. Knuckles took his arms out from behind his head and witnessed the horrifying scene. People all over the sidewalks were watching with bated breath as the two cars completely compressed each other. Knuckles' eyes widened as he saw the parts of each car go flying and then settle on the road. And just when he thought the scene couldn't get worse, he noticed in shock that one of the people in the wreck was none other than Sonic. His breaths grew shorter and his heart pounded faster. He saw the hedgehog laying the road, his back pierced with a few pieces of the back window. The Guardian immediately rushed to his side. He flipped him onto his back, lifting him up so that the glass wouldn't penetrate him deeper. To Knuckles' slight relief, he heard Sonic cough a few times, but the life in his eyes were dwindling.

"Hang in there Sonic!" he urged, "Help is coming soon, I promise! Just hang in there a little bit longer!"

Sonic looked at the echidna in the eyes.

He painfully muttered, "Take… care… of… her…" And with that, his body went limp and his eyes went dull. Knuckles eyes filled with tears, his senses becoming fuzzy. This wasn't happening… There was no way this was actually happening… He took short, quick breaths as he started to do one of the things he rarely ever did, especially when people were around… He clenched his teeth together and started to cry. He couldn't stop himself… The sorrow was too much. He heard sirens become louder and louder as they neared the wreck. As the ambulances loaded up all of the bodies, Knuckles glanced over and saw the girl that Sonic had been talking about. His head rang with Sonic's last words: _Take care of her. _Knuckles balled his hand into a fist.

"I will, Sonic," he whispered, "I'll take care of her forever."

Rachel woke up in a hospital bed with white lights shining down on her. She squinted her eyes as they slowly tried to adjust to the brightness. Her brain slowly tried to remember what had happened… The car wreck. Rachel's eyes went wide as she remembered the entire alarming scene. As the nurse came in to check on her, Rachel found herself unable to speak. She swallowed in pain and let out a yell as she tried to sit up. The nurse steadily placed her back on the bed.

"Don't get up, sweetie," she said sweetly, "you'll only do yourself more damage." But Rachel swallowed again to try and ask her something.

Finally, she managed to croak, "Did… anyone else make it through the wreck?" The nurse looked back at the closed door nervously. She sighed and then patted Rachel's hand.

"Don't you worry about that now, honey, you just try and get some rest." But Rachel wouldn't let it go. She looked at the nurse intensely and then repeated, "Did anyone else make it through?" The nurse sighed and then sat down on the stool beside the bed. She took Rachel's hand firmly in hers. She took a deep breath before responding.

"The doctor told me not to cause you any stress, but I think you have the right to know…" Her grip grew tauter.

"No one made it through, honey, including your fiancé." Rachel stared at her in utter disbelief. She didn't speak, she just stared at her. So, it was real. It had actually happened. The nightmare that she could've sworn was just a stupid hallucination had come to life. Sonic was dead, and their marriage and her happiness had gone along with him. Rachel looked up at the ceiling, her eyes dark. Tears came flooding out of her eyes as she let out a bloodcurdling scream of despair and loss.

Chapter Eleven:

Knuckles stayed in the hospital lobby room, unable to completely process what had happened. He knew that Sonic was dead, but why did it happen? Why did such tragic things have to happen to such good people? He wondered why bad, cruel people never got justice, but good-hearted people always got the short-end of the stick. But it wasn't just Sonic he was talking about. He was also thinking about that girl… She seemed so kind and innocent… How could such a terrible thing happen to her? One of the nurses had told him that she was the only survivor in the crash. They said it was a true miracle that she lived. Knuckles laughed wryly to himself. _What kind of miracle is that? She's on her way to the happiest day of her life, and then, out of nowhere, a freak car crash happens and her whole world comes crumbling down. Her fiancé is dead and she has nowhere left to go. _Then he remembered his promise to Sonic. He promised he would take care of that girl. _Rachel, _he finally remembered, _Rachel is her name. _She would never be admitted out of the hospital without someone to take care of her. He sighed and walked over to her hospital room. He cautiously opened the door and found that no one was there. Bewildered, Knuckles went to the front desk.

"Excuse me, what happened to the patient in room 024A?" The nurse checked the computer.

"She was checked out about ten minutes ago." Knuckles stared at her.

"You mean… She checked herself out?"

"Oh, no, no! Her parents came in here and took her home." Knuckles nodded slowly, still confused. _I thought Sonic told me that her parents didn't care about her…_ Knuckles had only heard two things about Rachel: 1. She was abused. 2. Her parents didn't care about her. He had no idea what Sonic had meant by abuse or why her parents didn't care about her. He shrugged.

"Do you know what their address is?" The nurse checked the computer again.

"4292 Owen Lane."

"Thanks." And with that, he headed right for her house.

Rachel calmly stayed seated in the back of the red minivan. She stared out the window, refusing to say a word. Her parents didn't speak to her or each other during the ride. When they finally pulled up the driveway, Rachel slowly got out and walked into the house. She showed no emotion whatsoever.

The doctors and nurses had been concerned about her when she didn't speak after hearing that Sonic was dead. She had only looked at the ceiling emotionlessly for days, never moving the slightest inch. The doctors decided that she had gone into shock. When her parents had come to get her, she still hadn't moved. Only when she had to change and leave did she move, but her emotions never showed and words never came out of her mouth.

As she walked into her kitchen, her parents stared at her with malice.

"You just stay down here until I'm ready," her father said. Her mother went back to the door.

"Now that I finally got your troubling self back here, I have to go back to work. Hopefully I don't get fired because of your inconvenience." She went back out to the minivan and her father grinned lustfully. As he went upstairs, Rachel stayed where she was until all she could hear was the clock's steady ticking. She walked over to her silverware drawer. She pulled it open and pulled out a meat-cutting knife. Her eyes dead but her hand steady, she placed the knife onto her right wrist…

Chapter Twelve: 

Knuckles rang the door bell. He took a deep breath. How was he supposed to explain to her why he was here? _Oh, as Sonic's final wish, he wanted me to take care of you, so I'm supposed to follow you everywhere now? _Now _that _would freak her out. She was going through a rough time… Now probably wouldn't be the best time to find out that someone was going to follow her. He stood there for 30 seconds, but no one answered the door. So, he rang it again. After 30 seconds, still no answer. Knuckles curiously jiggled the doorknob and was shocked to find out that the door was unlocked. He didn't want to break in, but he saw no other way. He cautiously opened the door and stepped into the main hallway. He looked around the first floor and found that no one was there. He checked the garage and saw that there were also no cars at the house. Hesitant to search the second floor, he headed back to the front door. But just as he was about to leave, he heard the faint sound of a shower running. Growing curious again, he quietly ascended the staircase. When he reached the upper floor hallway, he found out that the shower was coming from the hall bathroom. As he walked towards the door, he could've sworn he heard someone… counting. He placed his head on the door, listening intently. Inside, he did hear a girl counting. He knocked on the door. The girl didn't answer. He held his breath and turned the doorknob. It was once again unlocked. He carefully opened the door. He felt a wave of steam hit his face. His vision fuzzy, he blinked several times to try and see through the haze. When he could finally see somewhat clearly, he gasped in shock.

Rachel was lying face up on the side of a bathtub, the curtains drawn and the shower running. At first feeling embarrassed to invade her privacy, he was relieved to see that she was covered in a towel, but that was the only thing covering her. Her wrists were wrapped in rags. Blood was showing up through the clear white cloth. Her eyes were dead as they stared up at the ceiling. Her light voice faintly muttered numbers one after another.

"56… 57… 58… 59…" Knuckles rushed down and knelt by her side and held her head up.

"Rachel! Rachel, snap out of it! Rachel" Rachel's eyes did not move. Her body didn't move unless Knuckles moved it.

"Rachel, why are you counting?! Answer me!"

Rachel emotionlessly responded in a faint mutter, "Daddy told me to take my clothes off and take a shower. He wanted to watch me. Then he told me to count to 100, after he touched me…"

"Touched you… You… You mean he…?" Knuckles' eyes widened in fury. Her own father had actually done something that disgusting to his own daughter… Now he knew what Sonic meant when he said her parents abused her… He yelled out in anger and left Rachel on the side of the tub. He kicked down almost every door in the house in blind rage. How _could _he?! How could someone do something that cruel: especially to their own _daughter! _

"SHOW YOUR FACE YOU MONGREL!" he shouted throughout the rooms, although he knew that no one would answer. He just needed to let his hatred out. He punched holes in almost every wall. He didn't know Rachel that well, but he already felt something for her. He felt that it was his fault that she had gotten harassed like this. He had made a promise to Sonic that he would protect her, but so far he had let him down. His outrage mounting, he kicked over furniture and smashed the TV.

"COME ON OUT HERE YOU PHONY, YOU SHAM!" He swore that he wrecked the entire house, except for Rachel's room and the hall bathroom.


	5. Chapter 13, 14 and 15

Chapter Thirteen:

Knuckles was carrying Rachel out into the forest, her body still wrapped in only a towel. He was also carrying a bag of Rachel's stuff on his shoulder. Rachel had her arms wrapped around his neck, feeling embarrassed and flustered. Her eyes were bright again, and she had talked a little bit, but she still felt terrible inside.

Knuckles had briefly told her all about why he was there after he had settled his temper. After coming out of her shock, she had packed some of her stuff and agreed to go back to Angel Island with him. As he made his way through the dense trees, he looked at Rachel.

She was so lovely… The sunlight made her eyes sparkle and her peach skin seem utterly flawless. Unconsciously, he held her tighter and brought her head closer to his shoulder. Rachel looked up at him curiously. Knuckles' muzzle turned a bright red color. He turned his head away quickly to try and hide it.

To avoid awkwardness, he asked, "So, um, how long have you been abused like that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Rachel said quickly.

_Wow, _he thought to himself, _nice going genius. That's a great question to avoid awkwardness. _But he was curious, so he asked it differently.

"I mean, why does your dad do that stuff to you, and why did you cut yourself?"

"Knuckles, please, I don't want to talk about it… Can you just drop it?" she pleaded. But Knuckles still couldn't stop.

"How could your mother just let him do that to you? Or did she even know about it?"

"Knuckles, please, stop talking about it, I don't want to think about it!"

"But it's not fair!" He stopped walking. He stared at her intently. Rachel looked at him in shock.

"It's not fair that you had to be with such terrible parents! The reason you hurt yourself is because of them! Shouldn't somebody do something about that?!" Rachel looked down sadly.

"It wasn't just my parents, Knuckles. It was also my sister and all of the kids at school. They all tortured me almost the same way."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it right!"

"What are you trying to say?" Knuckles looked forward. What was he trying to say?

"Rachel, I care about you, deeply. And I just don't understand how people can torture other people and think it's ok."

"I don't understand either Knuckles… But I guess that why we have to stand up for what we believe in. At least, that's what Sonic told me…" Her voice trailed off as she stared at the ground. Knuckles stared at her with concern and then started walking again. He decided to try and avoid the subject of Sonic.

After about 10 minutes of walking, Rachel started to fidget around in Knuckles' arms.

"Are we almost there? I don't feel comfortable being this exposed to you…"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." As they emerged into a clearing, Rachel stared blankly at the house that she and Sonic had once lived in. She prayed that she didn't have to go inside.

_Please don't make me go inside… Please don't make me go inside… _Knuckles looked at her, unaware of her sudden fear.

"If there's anything you want to take out of there, then you should probably get it now." Rachel stayed frozen. She didn't even attempt to get out of his arms. Knuckles stared at her worriedly.

"Rachel? Are you ok?" Rachel continued to stare at the house, her fear growing worse.

"Please don't make me go in there," she begged, "Please… I don't want to go in there…"

"But, Rachel, there must be _something _you want to take with you…?" Rachel's eyes flooded with tears. She wrapped her arms around his neck tighter and placed her head on his shoulder.

"No, I won't go in there! Never again!" She looked up at Knuckles pleadingly, tears running down her cheeks.

"I'll go anywhere you want, but just not there! Please, don't make me go in there! Not there, not there…"

Knuckles stroked her head and whispered, "It's ok Rachel. You don't have to go in there."

"Thank you…" she said. Knuckles walked past the house, now starting to feel a deep sense of worry for Rachel. _Just how much pain is she in?_

Chapter Fourteen:

Knuckles took Rachel all the way to his house on Angel Island. Rachel changed into her clothes and put her stuff into her new room. Afterwards, she sat down on the couch next to Knuckles. He blushed slightly, but tried to hide it again before she saw it. Rachel stared at her hands.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly said after several moments of silence. Knuckles looked at her inquiringly.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Rachel's eyes filled with sadness.

"I've been so… How should I say it…? Broken, ever since Sonic died." She paused, trying to find the right words to use. "I mean, I don't know you that well, and you don't know me that well, but we are in common in one way… We both cared about Sonic. And I'm sorry that I've been inconvenient to you and maybe even acted like you didn't know how I was feeling. It's just… tough, you know…" Knuckles looked at her longingly. He wished that he could release her pain… but he didn't know how when he was feeling the same pain that he didn't know how to get rid of… Tears started to drip from Rachel's eyes.

"I just… I miss him so much…" She shut her eyes and let her tears fall onto her hands. Her shoulders started shaking as she sobbed. Knuckles wrapped his arms around her and let her bury her head in his chest. He stroked her back lightly.

"It's ok, kiddo," he said. Rachel's eyes snapped open. No… It couldn't be… Knuckles kissed her lightly on the forehead. Rachel's pupils shrunk as a memory consumed her mind…

_Sonic wrapped his arms around Rachel as she shuddered on her bed. She gasped as Sonic whispered, "It's ok now. I'm here." Rachel turned around and let him hold her. _

_"Sonic…" she whimpered, "Oh Sonic…" He gave her a small smile and kissed her lightly on the forehead. _

_"I'll always be here for you, kiddo," he said lovingly, "I promise."_

Rachel screamed and held her head. She pushed Knuckles away from her as hard as she could. Confused and in pain, Knuckles winced and looked up at Rachel. Her eyes wide in fear, she held her head tighter.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" she whispered. She shook her head. Knuckles felt baffled. What had he done? He tried to touch her shoulder to calm her down.

"Hey, Rachel, it's ok…" But Rachel screamed again and pushed him onto the floor. She stood up and slowly staggered over to the wall.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" she continued to whisper. Knuckles slowly rose to his feet and looked at her in dread. Rachel grabbed one of the curtains and started crying into it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she repeated over and over again.

"Rachel…"

At the end of her weird fit, Rachel slowly closed her eyes and slid to the floor. Knuckles rushed over to her and found out that she was asleep. He carefully picked her up and placed her onto her bed.

"Sleep tight, Rachel," he whispered. He went back out into the living room and contemplated what had happened. Was Rachel's mind in some sort of sensitive state? Maybe he had come on as wanting to go out with her…

He could understand why she would have a problem with that. She had just lost her fiancé, and Knuckles was his best friend. It would be weird for him to go out with her, especially now. But there was something else to it, something Knuckles couldn't describe…

Chapter Fifteen:

That night, Knuckles lay awake in bed, unable to stop thinking about Rachel's strange freak-out.

_She's just grieving, _he tried to tell himself over and over again, _It was a terrible tragedy. The shock still hasn't gone away. Just let her be. _But he couldn't just let it be. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to keep her safe… He…

"AHHHHHHHH!" Knuckles shot up out of the bed and ran into the hallway. He listened intently. Suddenly, he heard another blood curdling scream.

"SONIC!" Rachel screamed. Knuckles burst into her room. She was kicking around, her hands over her eyes, water running down her face. She opened her mouth and screamed again at the top of her lungs. Knuckles sprinted up to her into a sitting position on her bed.

"Rachel! Rachel, it's ok, it's only a dream!" Rachel stopped kicking and took her hands off of her eyes. Her body shaking, she looked up at him with wild eyes.

"We have to help him! He was in that car crash with me! He could die if we don't act soon! Please, we have to help him!"

"Rachel, the crash was a few days ago. Sonic… he's…"

"You don't understand!" Rachel screamed. She tried to get out of his grasp, "Sonic's in trouble! If he we don't help him, he'll die!" Knuckles struggled to keep her sitting on the bed. For whatever reason, she was 10 times stronger than before…

"Rachel, there's nothing you can do now! He's already gone! Just face it!" Rachel burst out into tears again and covered her eyes with her hands, her head hung low.

"He'll die! He'll die!" she cried. Knuckles held her shoulders a little looser. He felt a great pain of sympathy for her. To him, she almost looked like she was sick… Well, mentally… Although he didn't think she had gone insane. But something was definitely wrong.

Just as she did before, her body relaxed, her eyes growing less tense, her hand touching Knuckles' chest. As she began to sleep soundly, her head rested under Knuckles' chin. His face grew bright red. Her breath was now calmer and slower.

"Sonic…" she whispered in her sleep. Knuckles sighed and laid her body back down on the bed. He gently pulled the sheets up over her. He silently walked back out the door and carefully pulled it shut again. As he made his way back to his room, he wondered what he was going to do… Was there really anything he could do? Maybe it would pass with time… But this seemed much more serious than that. Should he really assume that she's mentally ill? The last thing he wanted was for her to think that he thought she was insane. After all, he…

He stopped at his door. Did he really…? He remembered how he felt when her head was on his chest… When he had seen her with only a towel on… When he had carried her around… When he had seen her the first time…

Yes, it was true. There was no way it wasn't. But how was he supposed to tell her? She had just lost the person who had literally saved her life! And Sonic was his best friend… He couldn't betray him like that. But if he didn't tell her, she would probably find out eventually. He slammed his fist on the door.

_Dang it, what am I supposed to do?! _He thought miserably. He took a deep breath and decided not to worry about it. As he laid back to try to fall asleep for the night, he focused all of his attention on how he was going to help Rachel with her problem.


	6. Chapter 16, 17 and 18

Chapter Sixteen:

The following morning, Knuckles woke up to find Rachel sitting alone on the couch. Her face was full of sorrow as she played with a necklace with a blue sapphire on it that was on her neck. As he stared at her kindheartedly, he felt somewhat guilty about the pleasurable dreams he had had about her the night before…

He sat down beside her. "You feeling ok?" he asked soothingly. Rachel simply shrugged.

"I don't know. I still feel like crap right now." She turned towards him.

"I'm sorry I freaked out yesterday and last night."

"It's ok. It was my fault for coming onto you like that."

"No, you're fine. You didn't come onto me, you were just trying to help. It's just that…" she stared at the floor, "what you did reminded me of what Sonic used to do to calm me down." Knuckles looked at the dazzling sapphire as it twisted in her hand.

"What's that?" he said making a slight gesture towards it with his head. Rachel looked down at it.

"Oh, this is a gift Sonic gave to me for my birthday. I was still sort of freaked out this morning, so I put it on to make me feel better. At first, I thought it would only make me feel more upset, but it actually makes me feel… Like he's with me." She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I think… I think he's always been with me, but I just never noticed." She continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking hard. Knuckles stared at her.

"Rachel…" he said slowly, trying to will himself to tell her the truth. "If you haven't already noticed, I… um… Well, I…"

"You love me," Rachel ended for him. Knuckles looked at her in shock.

"So, you did already notice," he said, feeling embarrassed. Rachel smiled at him and laughed sweetly. That was the first time Knuckles had ever heard her laugh. He liked it…

"Yeah. I mean, just the way you acted when you found me in my house. I'm sure you would've saved anyone who was in that situation, but just the way you got so angry about what my dad had done to me… It gave me the suspicion that you might feel something more than the obligation to take care of me for Sonic. Oh, and by the way, you're terrible at hiding your blushes." Ironically, Knuckles tried to hide another blush.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" he said hurriedly. Rachel covered her mouth as she laughed sweetly again. After a few moments of silence, Knuckles spoke again.

"You said that you knew about how I got angry at your house, right?" Rachel nodded. "So, does that mean that you can always tell what's going on when you have those freak outs?" Rachel nodded solemnly.

"Yes. I always know what's going on when I get into that state."

"But in that case, why don't you just snap yourself out of it?" Rachel sighed.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. If I could snap out of that condition when it happened, I would, but I can't. My mind gets locked into a certain memory or emotion and it sticks there. Trust me, I've tried to get out of it when it happens, but I can't. I don't know why, but I can't…" She looked at the necklace again thoughtfully, but she didn't say anything else.

"Maybe we should take you to the doctor," Knuckles suggested. Rachel looked up at him.

"Doctor…?" Rachel repeated.

"I mean, I don't think you've gone insane or anything, I just think it would be good if we could figure out what's wrong so that you don't have to feel so much pain," Knuckles explained quickly. After a minute, Rachel looked at him and smiled, although her eyes were full of sadness.

"You're right. I need to get better. It's the only way to let Sonic rest in peace." She rose to her feet. She walked halfway to her room, but stopped.

"And Knuckles," she whispered. She turned to face him. "Thank you," she said, her face full of gratitude. As she turned to doorknob, Knuckles sprung off of the couch.

"Wait, Rachel!" he said swiftly, "I need to know something!" Rachel looked back at him curiously.

"What is it Knuckles?"

"Do you love me back?" Rachel thought for a moment and then turned back to the door.

"I don't know, Knuckles…" she replied, "but perhaps I will in the near future."

Chapter Seventeen:

The next day, Knuckles took Rachel to the hospital. He firmly held her hand as they walked down the hallway. Knuckles felt worried about her. She was trembling as they made their way to the room the nurse had directed them to. She was looking around anxiously at the people walking around. She wrapped herself around Knuckles' arm.

"K-Knuckles…" she whispered, "you don't think my mom's here, do you?" Knuckles held her close to him, realizing that she was getting into one of her states again.

"No, Rachel," he said softly, "I know you said that she works at a medical center, but I don't think it's this one."

"H-how do you know?"

"If I'm wrong, I'll protect you from her. I promise." He led her into the room and sat her down on the bed. She was still shaking. Then, heavy footsteps came closer to the door. Rachel screamed and scrambled backwards.

"Dad!" she screamed, "It's Dad! Dad's come back for me!" She covered her head with her arms as she curled up into a ball. "He's come back for me! I know he has!" The door opened and two doctors came inside the room. The male one looked at her in confusion. Knuckles ran to Rachel's side, ignoring the doctors.

"Rachel! Rachel, it's ok, your dad's not here!" He held her in his arms.

"B-but he's right there!" Rachel said looking at the male doctor, "He's come back to torture me again! I don't want him to touch me that way again!" She started to cry into Knuckles' chest.

"Sonic!" she cried, "Sonic!" Knuckles closed his eyes and sat on the bed, keeping her firmly in his arms.

One of the nurses talked to Knuckles outside of the room. She was someone that Knuckles had actually met before. Her name was Roxanne the Cat. (She's one of my fan-made characters.) She had blue fur and purple eyes. Her black hair was tied back into a ponytail and she had light blue eye shadow with lipstick to match it.

"I guess we've really got a tough case on our hands," Roxy said after Knuckles explained to her why Rachel was there.

"Yeah, you're not kidding," he replied. Roxy put her hands behind her head.

"I mean, we should be able to figure out what's wrong and find some sort of cure for it, but the problem is going to be figuring out the problem." She looked at her clipboard and whistled.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked. Roxy shook her head and sat down. She let out a deep breath.

"Rachel's in for one heck of a doozy…" she said exasperatedly, "She has to take more tests than a cancer patient!"

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah. I guess that'll be what it takes to figure out the disease…" Knuckles' face hardened. His hands balled into fists.

"As long as that's what it takes…" he said determinedly. Roxy nodded.

"We'll try our best to figure it out, but as you probably already know, there are no guarantees…"

"I know. Just please, try to help her."

"Of course."

After Roxy explained to Knuckles what was going to happen with the tests, Knuckles held his breath as he waited for the doctors to take Rachel out of the room. He knew it would be tough for them… Rachel would never let them take her away without becoming panicked. When the door opened, Rachel was being carefully led out of the room. Rachel saw Knuckles and immediately broke away from the doctors. She hugged him tight, her eyes wild with fear. She squeezed them shut.

"Please don't let them take me away!" she begged, "Please don't leave me alone! I don't want to be left all alone!" Knuckles sadly stroked her head.

"They're not going to hurt you Rachel. They just want to help you. I will never let anything harm you. Just remember that." The doctors took Rachel's arms and gently tried to take her away from Knuckles. But she started bursting into tears. She struggled to get away from them again, but a few more nurses came to help out. Rachel couldn't get free from them no matter how hard she tried.

"Sonic! Sonic!" she screamed. Knuckles looked after her as they got closer to the test room. His heart full of melancholy, he felt his feet drag as he turned around.

But as the door to the test room opened, Knuckles heard Rachel scream, "KNUCKLES!"

Chapter Eighteen:

Knuckles stayed rooted to the spot. His eyes widened in shock. His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest. Roxy placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Knux…?" she whispered uncertainly.

"She said my name…" he breathed, "She said my name…She's never said my name before when she gets like that…"

"Here, Knux, why don't we go somewhere else. I think you and I both know what you'll do when the tests begin and Rachel _really _starts to scream."

As they walked down the hallway, Knuckles asked, "Will it hurt?" Roxy shook her head. "Then why will she scream even louder?"

"Because they're going to keep her awake while she's panicked. They need to observe her behavior and how she reacts to certain things. They already got some of the data that they needed just when the doctors first walked into the room." When they got into the lobby area, Knuckles sat down, feeling like weights were sitting on his shoulders. He put his face in his hands. He still couldn't believe she had said his name…

As if reading his mind, Roxy said, "Now I have a question for you. Why is it such a shock that she said your name?" Knuckles put his hands in his lap, his head low.

"When Rachel starts freaking out like that, she usually only screams for Sonic. I never thought that she would scream for me to help her…"

"Who is this Sonic guy anyways?" Knuckles' eyes filled with deeper sorrow.

"Her fiancé, and my best friend," he replied, "He died in a freak car accident while they were on their way to their wedding." Roxy looked at him in surprise.

"Wow… That explains a lot. Now I see why she gets so freaked out all the time… But just one more question…"

"Ask away."

"When the doctors came down the hallway, she was convinced that it was her dad and that he had come back to get her… Why is she so scared of her dad?"

Knuckles sighed. "Her parents have abused her a lot. For example, after the accident, her parents took her home with them. Rachel was so depressed about the accident that she cut her own wrists… You might've noticed the scars… And her mom went back to work, but her dad was there, and he… Well, let's just say he stared at Rachel and his bed with a lot of lust that day…"

"Oh God… You don't mean he…"

"Yep. And afterwards, he told her to get in the shower and count to 100 while he watched her. After awhile, he had to go somewhere. When I went to find her, she was in a daze. She was lying on the tub, but she was still counting. That's when I took her back to my place."

"How often has he done that to her?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't like to talk about it."

"Understandably so. What does her mom do to her though?"

"Rachel mentioned something about her beating her up all the time or something, but that's about it. She escaped from that for awhile when Sonic found her. He took her away from them and made her happy. He protected her when kids bullied her or her family started fighting. That's why she cries for him and wants him to protect her."

Roxy silently nodded. "That will definitely help us find out what's going on in her mind." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me. It probably wasn't easy. And I'm sorry about Sonic."

Knuckles weakly smiled at her. "Thanks."

After a half an hour, Roxy took Knuckles back to the hallway with the test room. Knuckles felt his stomach lurch when he heard Rachel give out a horrified scream. He balled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth to try to hold himself back. As Rachel screamed again, Knuckles felt himself take a step forward. Roxy tightly held his arm.

"Knuckles, no, not yet," she whispered, "they just need to get through this last test and then you can take her back home with you." The sound of a glass breaking came from the room.

"KNUCKLES!" Rachel screamed again. Knuckles tried to ignore it for as long as he could. Roxy gripped him tighter.

"Knux, please, just hold off a little longer." But Knuckles couldn't get the sound of Rachel's screams out of his head. He had to stay calm just a little longer. But as Rachel continued to let out screams of fear, Knuckles felt himself instinctively trying to run towards her. But Roxy held him back, although she was struggling.

"Just… a little… longer… Knuckles…" Knuckles broke free from her for a split second. Roxy grabbed his arm at the last second and barely managed to hang on to him. She dug her heels into the floor. Then, a device on her belt started ringing. She quickly checked it and let go of Knuckles. He burst into the test room and jumped onto the bed, completely ignoring the surprised nurses and doctors. He hugged Rachel as tight as he could. Rachel's face was covered in tears. Her eyes were puffed up and red. She whimpered as she buried her head in his chest.

"Knuckles…" she moaned, "Knuckles…" Knuckles felt himself starting to cry too.

"I'll never leave you like that again, Rachel," he promised, "Never."


	7. Chapter 19, 20 and 21

Chapter Nineteen:

The doctors went to discuss the data they collected and allowed Rachel and Knuckles to be alone with each other. Knuckles calmed Rachel down enough so that she fell asleep. He laid her down on the bed and went out to talk to the doctors. When he opened the door, he saw that only Roxy was standing there. Bewildered, Knuckles turned towards her.

"Where are all the doctors?"

"Making the injections for Rachel," she replied.

"Injections?!" Knuckles said worriedly.

Roxy laughed. "Don't worry. It's just to help her calm down when she starts freaking out. The doctors told me to tell you that she should take it three times a day to prevent the hallucinations before they happen."

"So… This is just a temporary cure?"

Roxy nodded again. "Yep. Until they can find a permanent solution, this is the best they can do to prevent it."

"Ok. I guess I should be happy that they were able to come up with something…" Knuckles thought for a moment. "Do you know exactly what's wrong with her?"

Roxy nodded slightly. "She has a disease."

"What kind of disease?"

"Do you see those dirt spots on the wall?" she asked, looking at the white walls. Knuckles looked at them too. "For someone who hates flies, they will see flies when they look at those spots," she continued, "and for someone who hates dogs, that's what they'll see. That's Rachel's disease." Knuckles turned back to her.

"But how did you figure that out?"

"Some of the tests we did included showing her random blobs on paper and seeing how she reacted. When male doctors came into the room, she thought it was her dad or someone from school. When one of the female doctors or nurses came in, she thought it was her mother or sister. When they showed her the random pictures, she thought it was either a car crash or someone cutting or hanging themselves. That's how we knew that that was her disease. And just like before, she either screamed for you or Sonic when she became scared."

Knuckles thought everything over. It made sense to him. When he had tried to comfort her, she had become scared and remembered the crash. When the doctor had come into the room, she had thought that her father had come back to get her. It all seemed to fit together. He let out a deep breath.

"Are they sure this injection will work?"

"We're going to try it out. We'll make her freak out again and then put in the injection to see if it works."

"Ok. Is it ok if I watch?"

"Of course. The doctors want you to in there anyways in case it doesn't work."

The doctors came back out with a box of syringes. Knuckles cringed slightly. They all went back into the test room. Rachel was still sound asleep. Roxy went over to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Rachel?" Rachel's eyes fluttered open. She raised her head slightly. She looked around and saw the doctors. Her pupils shrunk as she shot up into a sitting position.

"D-dad…" she fearfully muttered. Roxy took out one of the syringes. She took the cap off and put rubbing alcohol onto a cloth. Rachel stared at it in horror.

"Wh-what is that?" she asked, her voice shaking. Knuckles held her shoulders.

"It's ok, Rachel," he said softly, "It's not going to hurt you." Rachel's body loosened under Knuckles' touch. She looked up at him. "Knuckles…" Roxy rubbed the cloth on her arm. Rachel started to panic again. She tried to move away from the needle. Knuckles managed to keep her still long enough for Roxy to slide the syringe into her arm. Rachel let out a yip of shock. Her pupils went back to normal size and her eyelids started to droop. She fell back into Knuckles' body, her breathing slow. Knuckles let out a sigh of relief. He carefully set her back onto the bed. The doctors handed Roxy the box and left. Knuckles looked at them curiously as they left.

_What was the point of them even being in here? _He wondered. He shook his head and turned back to Roxy. She threw the syringe away.

"She should be calm when she wakes up, too," Roxy said, "As soon as she wakes up, you can take her back home with you."

"Thanks." Roxy left the room, leaving Knuckles alone with a sleeping Rachel. He sat on the side of the bed and waited for her to wake up. As she slowly started to stir, Knuckles felt excitement build in him. There was something he had to ask her about again… She carefully sat up, her eyes still sleepy. She looked at him.

"Knuckles…" Knuckles pulled her into a loving embrace. He glanced at the wall and remembered that Rachel might still be hallucinating.

"Rachel," he asked carefully, "Do you see those spots on the wall?" Rachel looked at the wall. She nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you see anything in them?" Rachel carefully examined them and shook her head. Knuckles sighed.

"Then it worked…"

"What worked?" Knuckles laughed.

"The doctors made an injection that would stop you from panicking over nothing."

"Oh." She looked at her arm and noticed the small mark where the needle had penetrated her skin. After several moments of silence, Knuckles slowly fidgeted around before speaking.

"Um, Rachel…" he started, "do you remember what you said while you were freaked out?" Rachel looked at the ceiling. She shook her head.

"No. Sometimes I remember, but this time I didn't. I knew what was going on, but I didn't know why it was going on, or what I was doing."

"Oh. Well, you sort of screamed for me to help you…" Rachel stared at him.

"I did?" Knuckles, refusing to look at her, nodded. This time, it was Rachel who blushed.

"O-oh. I guess I did." Knuckles noticed her sudden change in mood and looked at her in shock. Did she…?

"Rachel…" He touched her face with one hand. Her face grew a darker shade of pink. She shyly looked away from his eyes.

"Do you love me?" he asked. Rachel closed her eyes. Did she? Of course she did. Now she was certain of it. But she couldn't… Not after what had happened to Sonic… She could never love anyone ever again… But yet here she was now, falling in love with the red echidna. Maybe she could hide her feelings from him… But he had already figured it out. That's why he was asking her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she replied, "Yes. I love you." Knuckles' face lit up. She _did _love him! He had known it all along! He was too excited to notice the anguish on Rachel's face. Before Rachel could do anything, Knuckles leaned forward and kissed her. He felt joy like he had never felt before as his lips met hers. But after just a few moments, Rachel pulled away from him. Shocked, Knuckles looked at her in awe. Several tears were rolling out of her eyes now. She silently started sobbing as she put her face in her hands. Knuckles gazed at her sadly. He picked her and the syringes up.

"Let's go home," he whispered. The whole way back to the island, neither of them said a word.

Chapter Twenty:

Day after day, Knuckles made sure that Rachel took the injection three times a day. Sometimes Rachel did it on her own. The panic attacks went away instantly, and so did the nightmares. They barely talked to each other anymore. Knuckles usually left the house to guard the Master Emerald, not because he thought anyone was going to steal it, but because he wanted to get his mind off of Rachel. It made him furious when she tells him that she loves him, but then she just acts like she has no feelings for him whatsoever. She acts like he doesn't even exist! He loved her with all of his heart… Heck, he poured his heart out to her! And she just acted like she didn't even care. He often told her how much he loved her and how much he wanted to be with her, but she never looked him in the eye, and she never showed any sign of joy. Whenever he told her that he loved her, she always replied with, "That's nice," or "Ok." He kicked a stone down the steps of the emerald shrine. Why was she doing this to him? He got the fact that she was a little hesitant to love someone after what happened to Sonic, but the least she could do was tell him that she needed some time to get used to it, or at least say _something _to him! He wanted to keep his promise to Sonic, but it was getting harder and harder now. He looked up at the sky.

"You left me one heck of a girl," he said. Someone laughed beside him.

"Oh, come on, she's not that bad! She's just got a lot on her mind after what happened to us." Knuckles whirled to his right and found the blue hedgehog sitting next to him on the steps, smiling.

"What's up, Red?"

Knuckles' mouth was gaped open slightly as he replied, "Not much." The hedgehog laughed.

"Not much? Really? You just told me that I left you one heck of a girl! I'd hardly call that not much." Knuckles stared at him. Was he hallucinating? Or was this really Sonic? He decided that it didn't matter. As long as he got to be with his best friend again. Knuckles laughed.

"Sorry. I guess the shock had to settle in a little bit. So how you doing, Blue?" Sonic shrugged.

"I'm doing all right, although I did happen to notice your little quarrel with Rachel lately."

Knuckles looked down at his shoes. "Oh…"

Sonic put his arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Knux. She just doesn't know how to deal with falling in love again. I mean, if the person you loved died in a random car accident on your wedding day, wouldn't you be a little skeptical to fall in love again?" Knuckles let out a small laugh.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I don't know what I expected. I guess… I guess I just wanted her to love me back so badly that I completely forgot about how she might feel."

"Don't worry, Bud. I know Rachel. She'll come back to her senses, and then you two can be together."

Knuckles looked at him in surprise. "Wait… You're ok with me and Rachel going out?"

Sonic nodded. "Of course I am! I want you and Rachel to be happy! I don't want you to spend the rest of your lives moping over my death. And if that means you two going out and maybe going a little further," he smirked, "then that's fine with me." Knuckles smiled at him.

"Thanks, Sonic." The wind kicked in at that moment, and Knuckles' dreadlocks blew in front of his face. When the wind calmed and his vision was cleared, Sonic was gone.

Knuckles went back to the house feeling calmer and more reasonable. He walked in the door and found Rachel sitting on the couch, the place where he usually found her. He took a deep breath and sat down beside her. He didn't try to cuddle with her, or hit on her, or even tell her he loved her. Instead, he just sat there and smiled at her.

"Hey," he greeted. Rachel didn't even glance at him.

"Hey," was all she replied.

"Look, Rachel, I'm sorry if I pressured you into dating me right away. I should've thought about how you might feel before I tried to get you to go out with me."

Rachel didn't respond. She stared at the floor, unwilling to look at him at all. Knuckles glared at her. _What's her deal? _He wondered. _The least she could say is, "I accept your apology." I'm not expecting some long drawn-out speech here. _

"Can you please at least look at me?" he begged. Rachel didn't move at all. Knuckles felt his body pulse with anger. His face showed his fury.

"Why are you treating me like this?! I tell you that I love you, and you say that you love me back, but now all of a sudden that's a bad thing?! I know I'm not Sonic! No one will ever be like Sonic! I don't know what you want from me! If I could bring him back, I would! You think I don't miss him?! Of course I miss him! Don't try and act like you're the only one that ever cared about him!" Knuckles stared at Rachel intently to see if she reacted. Although she continued to look away from him, her mouth quivered and small tears ran down her face. She shut her eyes to try and hide her despair. Knuckles was now beginning to see why she was ignoring him. She didn't want to love him. But once you fall in love with someone, it's nearly impossible to stop loving them. He continued to yell at her.

"Why is it that you don't want to love me?! Is it something that I did wrong?! Did I say something to you or do something to you that makes you hate me or something?!" He paused in case she decided to respond. But she stayed silent.

"ANSWER ME!" Rachel just sat there. She kept her eyes shut as more and more tears came streaming out of her eyes. After several moments of silence, Rachel rose to her feet and started to head towards her room. She took a syringe she had left on the table with her. Knuckles was stunned. So that was it… That's all he got. After caring for her, loving her, and even saving her, this is the thanks he got. His hands balled into fists, his body shaking with rage. He clenched his teeth together as he stomped into the bathroom. There, he found the box of syringes. He picked one up and stared at it.

"Is this really what it will take for you to love me?" he whispered. Then, he smashed it onto the tile floor. Rachel heard the noise as she was finished putting the injection into her arm. She ran over to the bathroom and gasped as she witnessed Knuckles smashing each of the needles one by one. She grabbed his arm to try and stop him.

"Knuckles, stop!" she pleaded. But he just started using his other arm to throw them onto the ground.

"Knuckles, please! I need those!" she cried. But the Guardian only seemed to get more angry.

"Oh, so this is what it takes to get your attention?!" he shot back. Rachel was taken aback. She didn't respond. He scoffed at her and threw another injection onto the floor. Rachel fell down to his knees and grabbed his leg in anguish.

"Please, stop it!" she said, new tears falling out of her eyes. She looked up at him pleadingly. "I'll do anything you want! Just please! Stop it!" Knuckles laughed wryly.

"Oh, so now you're willing to talk to me! You'll do anything I want you to do when it hurts you, but if it hurts me, then it can just burn me 'til I die!" He took the box containing the rest of the medicine and chucked it into the wall of the living room. The syringes fell out and crashed onto the floor. Rachel stared at it in horror. She let go of the echidna's leg, suddenly afraid that he might start hitting her. He stormed out into Rachel's room and tore open each of her drawers. He started flinging all of her stuff out into the living room. Rachel went to see what he was doing. She ducked as one of her most precious belongings went flying out of the room. She cried out in despair as she picked up her wedding dress, the one that she was supposed to marry Sonic in. She smoothed it out onto the floor and made sure that it wasn't damaged at all. Knuckles came back out of her room. He kicked her stuff out of his way and threw her bag at her. Rachel looked at him in fear and confusion.

"Pack up what you want and leave what you don't. I'll just burn it anyways," he said. Rachel stared at him in disbelief. Was he really telling her to leave? She hesitantly started to put her stuff into the bag. He glared at her as he watched. Once she had all of her stuff inside of it, she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder.

"Now what?" she asked. Knuckles opened the front door.

"Now you leave," he replied.

"But, Knux-…"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He yelled. Rachel took a step back. She shook with fear as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the doorway. "I don't care where the heck you go, as long as you're not on this island, and I never have to see your hideous face ever again!" Rachel stood there as if rooted to the spot. Without a word, she looked down at the ground in sorrow, her cheeks wet with continuous tears. She turned around and ran as fast as she could, never looking back.

Chapter Twenty-One:

Rachel was now off of the island, running through the forest as fast as her feet could take her. She was breathing heavily as she rushed her way past dense trees. She was still crying, but she wasn't sobbing. When she reached the waterfall, she fell to the ground, too tired to continue her pace. She had been sprinting ever since she had left Knuckles' house. Then, she started whimpering as she put her face in her hands. Although it hadn't been that long since she had taken the injection, she started to feel fear rise up in her.

"Sonic," she cried, "What do I do?" She gasped as she felt arms wrap around her shoulders.

"It's ok, kiddo," a boy said, "I've got you." Rachel turned around and saw the familiar green eyes of her dead fiancé. He smiled at her warmly. She turned and cried into his chest. Sonic closed his eyes and stroked her back. He looked down at her left hand and noticed the diamond ring he had given to her. He gently pulled her hand up and kissed it.

"You never took this off, did you?" he asked. Rachel looked at the ring and nodded.

She sniffed as she replied, "I never took it off. I couldn't. Even if I did want to, I couldn't."

"And why's that?"

"It would've been too painful," she sobbed, "I would've hurt you by getting rid of the last gift you gave me." Sonic smiled gently.

"I understand Rachel," he said, "It's ok."

"I'm a terrible person," she cried.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I hurt Knuckles," she replied, "I… I broke him. He's not himself now because of me, because I didn't talk to him, because I told him that I loved him, but yet I never kissed him or said 'I love you too,' when he said 'I love you.' It's all my fault!" Sonic put one gentle finger under her chin and pulled it up so that he could look into her water filled eyes.

"He didn't understand, Rachel. He didn't understand how you felt. You should've talked to him and let him help you."

"I know," she sniffled, "I'm sorry." Sonic gave her a small smile.

"I think Knuckles is the one you need to apologize to."

"But he never wants to see me again!"

"He'll come around and come looking for you. You'll see."

"But what should I do until then?"

"Just think things through. Try and think of what to tell him when you see him." Rachel nodded and smiled back. "Ok," she replied. Sonic kissed her. Rachel melted into the kiss. They kissed for several moments before Sonic broke away and whispered, "I love you." The wind blew harder, and Rachel shut her eyes as several leave blew in front of her face. She no longer felt Sonic's embrace. When she opened her eyes, the hedgehog was gone.

The next morning, Knuckles stirred out of bed, his mind in a fog. For some reason, he couldn't exactly remember what had happened the day before. He went into the living room and found shattered glass and a clear liquid spilled all over the floor. Confused, he looked around the rest of the house. He saw the same scene in the bathroom. He rushed into Rachel's room to see if she was all right. When he got there, he saw that all of the drawers were open, and all of them were completely empty. The closet was empty too. At first, he felt dazed, totally oblivious to what had happened the evening before. Then, it all came back to him. His sudden outrage, his fight with Rachel, him destroying the injections, him throwing all of Rachel's stuff into the hallway, Rachel fleeing the island…

He sprinted out of the house and left the island. He started yelling for Rachel as loud as he could. After a half an hour, he fell to his knees. He held his head in resentment.

"What have I done?" he muttered to himself, "What have I done?"

He ran all the way to Owen Lane, terrified of what he might find. He took deep breaths as he stood on the driveway of Rachel's house.

_Oh Aurora, please don't let it be true…_ He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. After several seconds, he went to ring it again, but he heard someone unlocking the door from the other side. The door opened just a crack, and he saw Rachel's face appear through the darkness of the house. She opened the door wider, but only enough so that Knuckles could see half of her body.

"Knuckles?" She seemed surprised to see him. Knuckles looked at her carefully. Her arms were bruised and so were her legs. He could see her ribs clearly. Her left cheek was a little purple. She was wearing extremely short jean shorts and a light quarter sleeve shirt that was completely unbuttoned. The only thing she was wearing underneath was a gray push-up bra. She seemed flustered and embarrassed. She tried to pull the shirt over her bare stomach. Her eyes were hollow with sadness and pain. Knuckles stared at her in pity.

"Rachel, please, come back to Angel Island with me! I'm sorry for all of the terrible things I did to you! Just please, come back with me!" Rachel looked at him, her face full of sorrow. Suddenly, a voice came from somewhere in the house.

"Rachel! Hurry up and come back to bed!" her father yelled. Rachel turned into the house and yelled back, "I-I'm coming daddy!" Her voice was full of fear. She turned back towards Knuckles.

"I think I'm going to stay here from now on…"

"Rachel!" Knuckles protested.

Rachel smiled at him, but it wasn't the smile she usually gave. "My dad and I talked it over last night, and we decided that it would be best if I stayed here with him and mom."

Her dad called out again, "Rachel! Get back up here!" Rachel turned back around and closed the door, leaving Knuckles on the porch feeling nothing but anger at himself.


	8. Chapter 22, 23 and 24

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Knuckles sat deep in the forest, crying openly. He was glad no one was around to see him. He bawled over everything going on: His outburst at the girl he loved more than anything, his betrayal of his promise to Sonic, the pain he had caused Rachel by not only upsetting her, but also forcing her to go back to her horrible abusive parents. He couldn't imagine how Rachel must feel being groped by her own father day after day. He angrily punched a couple of large rocks to a hundred pieces, tears running down his muzzle. How could he have forced her to leave? He had done the exact opposite of what Sonic had wanted him to do; he had thrown her back into the cruel arms of her family. And now she had to pay to the price of his arrogance. He let out a yell of anger and punched the ground as hard as he could, leaving giant cracks. He started breathing heavily. His teardrops dripped onto the green grass. He felt his sorrow and anger mix together into a powerful combination that overwhelmed him. He wanted to take it all back… He wanted to go back in time and prevent himself from hurting Rachel. He loved her so much… He remembered the pain in her eyes when she had opened her door. Her body had been so damaged. He started growling involuntarily as he thought about how her father must force her to wear skimpy clothes, or no clothes at all… He punched a tree, causing it to break at the stump and topple to the ground. He knew that he could destroy all the rocks and trees that he wanted, but it wouldn't make a difference. He had to do something about it. He wiped the tears off of his cheeks and eyes and determinedly walked out of the forest and back to Owen Lane.

With the cover of the night on his side, Knuckles sneaked through the backyard of Rachel's house. He climbed up onto her patio room roof. He saw a light on in one of the rooms. The blinds were up. The echidna peered through the window and noticed that it was a bedroom. He didn't see anyone inside. Luckily for him, the window was unlocked. He silently opened it and slipped into the room. He re-shut it behind him before anyone heard. He saw a rope tied to the one of the posts of the queen-sized bed. Knuckles' anger was reinforced by the images of Rachel being tied to the bed. He looked around the room and saw the necklace that Sonic had given Rachel.

_So this is Rachel's room… _he thought. He looked around a little more and noticed that there actually wasn't that much in there… It was as if she had no interests whatsoever. But he did find something of interest. She kept a journal in one of her bookcases. He flipped through its pages, not meaning to be nosy, but curious as to what went on in Rachel's life. Most of the stuff in the first half of the pages were filled with stuff about how Rachel was bullied and how she pinched herself until she bled. But then there was something about Sonic in there. She described the day she first met him:

_I met a blue hedgehog today… He let me cry into his chest when I felt miserable. He found me in the park after school. I was thinking about maybe trying to end my own life again. But for some reason, meeting him has changed my mind. We're going to meet up again tomorrow. I can't wait to see his kind smile again, feel his warm embrace. He's the only person that I can truly say that I like and trust. _

_Sincerely, _

_Rachel_

Knuckles sat down in her chair at her desk and flipped through more of what felt like Rachel's mind. He smiled as he read about her happiness of going out with Sonic, and blushed as he read about how she and Sonic made love. He decided that he didn't want to invade her privacy anymore, but there was one thing he had to know. He knew Rachel had written in the journal when she was at his house. He flipped near the last pages and started reading again at the first mention of his name. She talked about what a good friend he was and how he was really caring. He felt a little guilty about not living up to that now. As he kept reading, he saw that there was a reoccurring pattern. Rachel wrote in entry after entry about how she loved Knuckles, but she was afraid of losing him like she had lost Sonic, and how she didn't want to betray Sonic. One entry especially interested him:

_I don't know what to do… I love him so much. I want to hug him back. I want to kiss him. I want to sleep with him… But I can't. I don't want to feel like I've back-stabbed him. And I don't want to lose him like I lost Sonic. The pain would be too great. If I was ever even separated from him, I think my heart would free fall into darkness again. I wish I had the guts to tell him though…_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Rachel_

Knuckles felt his heart lighten. She always loved him, she just never thought she was allowed to love him. He flipped over to yesterday's date. There were tiny water marks all over the page. He read it painfully.

_Knuckles is hurt. I broke his heart by not speaking to him. He's not himself anymore. He doesn't want to see me anymore. I've lost him. My Guardian no longer wishes to protect me. I left the island. I can't remember how long it's been since I took my injection…I'm starting to black in and out of my hallucinations. Sometimes I'm aware of what's around me, and sometimes I'm not. Dad makes me wear short shorts around the house. If I wear a shirt, he rips it off. He makes me make out with him before I got to bed. Tonight, he tied me to my bed and touched me all over. I hate it when he does that… I hate being exposed to anyone. I wish Knuckles was here to save me…_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Rachel_

Knuckles felt his disgust build. How could anyone be so disgusting and cruel to anyone, let alone their own daughter? There were no more pages left. He shut the book and placed it back on the bookshelf. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He scrambled beneath the desk and hid in the shadows. He held his breath as the door opened and Rachel came into the room. She was wearing the same stuff as she had worn earlier that day. She sat down on the bed, her hands twitching nervously. Although her back was turned towards him, he could sense the fear on her face. Her head snapped up as her father came into the room. He smiled at her with desire. She cringed as he started to slip her unbuttoned shirt off.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Knuckles felt his body tense as her father threw her shirt onto the floor. His buff arms wrapped around Rachel's almost bare body. She tried to lean away from him, but he only brought her in closer as he started to kiss her. Rachel turned her head away and kicked him in the stomach. But it had almost no effect on him. As Rachel tried to escape from him, he punched her in the eye and slammed her head onto the wall. Rachel screamed in pain while he tied her arm to the post. Her back laying all the way on the bed, her dad climbed on top of her. Rachel started to scream and kick around, desperate to get away from him. But her family would never save her. He grinned as his finger trailed up her side to one area…

That's when Knuckles pounced. He jumped up and shoved Rachel's father onto the floor. He punched him in the face a couple times, and then proceeded to launch more punches into his stomach. These hits did have an effect on him. He threw him into the wall. He instantly slid to the floor, unconscious. Knuckles turned his attention back to Rachel. He untied her and held her head up.

"Rachel! Rachel, please, answer me!" Rachel's left eye opened and stared into the amethyst eyes of the red echidna.

"Knuckles…" she muttered. He examined her swollen right eye. She winced as he touched it. "Sorry," he quickly apologized. He paused. "But not just for that. I'm sorry I hurt you and made you leave." Rachel started crying. She buried her head in his chest. "Knuckles…" After crying for a few minutes, she finally spoke.

"No, Knuckles," she replied, "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I didn't talk to you. I should've at least told you why I was ignoring you. Please forgive me." Her eyes were full of plead. Knuckles smiled at her.

"Yes Rachel. I forgive you. Now, can you forgive me?" Rachel smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I forgive you." Knuckles hugged her. She continued sobbing in his embrace.

After Rachel packed up her stuff again and got dressed, Knuckles started to take her back to Angel Island. Rachel was a lot more cuddly with him after she cried out all of her misery from the past day of torture from her family. She kissed him on the cheek and nuzzled her head playfully in his chest. Knuckles blushed and nuzzled her back. As they traveled through the forest, Knuckles laughed and said, "This is kind of like déjà vu, isn't it?"

Rachel giggled. "Yeah. This is. Only last time I was covered in only a towel." After walking for several more minutes, a snapping sound came from somewhere else in the forest. Rachel screamed in fear. She buried her head in his shoulder.

"Dad! He's come back for me! Don't let him take me!" Knuckles patted her back, continuing to carry her firmly in his arms.

"It was just a bird, Rachel," he assured her. Then he remembered that it had been way over due for her to take an injection.

"I'll get you some more injections after you settle back in. Right now, just try and stay calm." But in her panicked state, Rachel couldn't tell the difference. She continued to tremble. Knuckles walked faster as they approached the floating island.

Rachel unpacked her stuff again. She had calmed down again. Knuckles watched her as she folded everything and organized them back into the drawers. She laughed softly.

"Please tell me this is the last time I have to do this." Knuckles laughed too.

"Yeah. I'll definitely make sure that you don't have to leave ever again." He walked over and wrapped his arms around her hips. "And so that you won't want to leave ever again." Rachel closed her eyes and held his hands. Knuckles kissed her cheek affectionately. Her face grew warm. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her engagement ring dazzling in the light. Malice filled her heart and mind as she brought her hand up and stared at it. From behind her, Knuckles noticed the reason for her sudden sorrow.

"Oh…" he said, taking his arms away from her hips, "I'm sorry Rachel. I'm moving this too fast, aren't I? You can take as much time as you need before we really get into a relationship." Rachel shook her head and turned around, her face close to his.

She whispered to him, "You call that a kiss?" She pressed her lips onto his, her hands gently touching his chest. Knuckles' eyes closed as he leaned into the kiss. He re-wrapped his arms around her hips, feeling nothing but his love for her. They continued to kiss, occasionally breaking away shortly, and then going right back into the kiss. After at least a minute, they finally broke away for good.

In perfect unison, they looked each other in the eyes and said, "I love you."

Chapter Twenty-Four:

After a nice long rest, Rachel woke up and yawned. She rubbed her eyes to coax them to open. She sat up and stretched out her arms. She slowly got out of the bed and walked out into the living room. She looked around and saw no sign of Knuckles. Her mind filled with the memory of her first day at Sonic's house. The nervousness of being alone from that day still lingered with her today. She hated being all on her own. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down on the couch, eating alone. The only sound she heard when she wasn't chewing was the sound of the clock ticking. She looked at it uneasily. 9:54 a.m. Where could Knuckles be? She began to worry more and more as the minutes ticked away. After she was finished eating, Knuckles still hadn't come back. She decided to go outside and check the shrine. She searched everywhere around it, but she still couldn't find him. She went back to the house and paced back and forth, unable to sit still. Then, she heard the doorknob turn. She snapped her head over and stared at it, unsure of whether or not it was Knuckles. She backed away from the door just in case. Luckily, when the door opened, the familiar face of the Guardian showed up. He smiled at her and held out a box of syringes.

"Merry Christmas!" he joked. Rachel giggled. He put the box down on the table. Rachel ran into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss.

"I was so worried about you," Rachel said, putting one hand on his face, "I had no idea where you went." Knuckles laughed.

"Really? You didn't see my note?" Rachel tilted her head slightly.

"Note?" Knuckles pointed over to the kitchen countertop.

"That note sitting right there in plain sight." Rachel stared at it, her face burning from embarrassment.

"Oh, that note." Knuckles laughed again.

"Maybe that disease of yours also hurts your vision," he teased. Rachel puffed her cheeks out angrily.

"Shut up," she huffed, "I haven't been alone that often." Knuckles opened the box and took out a needle.

"Speaking of your disease, you should probably take this since you haven't taken it for at least 24 hours." Rachel nodded and let Knuckles do it for her. He rubbed the cold rubbing alcohol onto her arm. He popped the cap off of the syringe and slowly put it into Rachel's right arm. (She never put it in her left arm since she was left-handed.) She cringed slightly. Even though she had taken it so often, she still didn't feel used to it. Knuckles took it out and threw it away. He put a small Band-Aid on the dot left behind. He smiled at Rachel.

"Do you want me to kiss it?" he kidded. Rachel's eyes became bigger, her lip pouted. "Yes." She looked so cute like that. Knuckles couldn't resist. He kissed the spot tenderly. Then he proceeded to gradually plant kisses all the way up her arm and onto her shoulder, until he reached her neck. Rachel's face flushed as he kissed the left side of her neck gently. He wrapped his arms around her abdomen. Rachel leaned back into him and closed her eyes, enjoying every moment of it.

That night, Knuckles decided to retire early and kissed Rachel goodnight before it was even 9 o'clock. Rachel sat outside alone, staring up at the full moon. Guilt had been overpowering her ever since she and Knuckles had started going out together, but she had somehow managed to keep it hidden away until now. She felt terrible inside. How could she be here, having a wonderful time, while Sonic was dead and gone forever, unable to get an opportunity of new life. And the part that was killing her the most was the fact that not only had she fallen in love again, but she had fallen in love with Sonic's best friend. It was completely unfair to Sonic. She sighed, her heart feeling heavy. She had to take it slower. She couldn't just jump into her relationship with Knuckles without having some sort of closure. She figured it wasn't too late. They had only been dating for two days. She felt someone sitting beside her.

"Hey, kiddo," Sonic greeted. Rachel turned towards him and smiled.

"Hi."

"Something bothering you?" Rachel nodded sadly.

"Yeah."

"Talk to me about it."

"Well, it's just that… I feel like I'm being totally unfair to you. I'm going out with Knuckles, one of your closest friends, and getting to enjoy myself as much as I want. You can't really enjoy yourself since you're… well, dead."

"Rachel, I do get to enjoy myself!" Rachel looked at him in shock.

"What?" Sonic laughed.

"Rachel, I didn't go to Hell when I died. I get to be with some of my friends that I lost in the past. I get to watch over you and see how grown you've become."

Rachel crossed her arms. "What do you mean grown?" Sonic laughed again.

"When I met you, you were just a little 13-year old girl who was lost and afraid in a big world. Now, you may still be 13 in the age book, but personality wise, you've become so much more mature. You can make your own decisions and fight your way through some of the toughest situations that most people could never handle." Rachel looked down sadly.

"I haven't grown up at all since you left," she replied, "I still feel afraid, and I still feel lost. I still rely on other people to help protect me instead of fighting my own battles."

"When you were at your parents' house, you didn't kill yourself."

"So? What does that prove?"

"It proves that you didn't give in to the thing that your family wanted you to do most. They pressured you into ending your own life, but you didn't do it."

"I guess you're right… But I still feel helpless without you here to guide me."

"But now Knuckles is here to guide you. I'm not saying that he's replaced me, I'm just saying that he can help you when you feel alone and unsure." Rachel smiled and nodded.

"I get it now." Sonic hugged her.

"I want you to be happy Rachel," he whispered in her ear, "No matter what. If going out with Knuckles makes you happy, then that's fine. Whatever makes you happy, I'll go along with it." He kissed her forehead lightly. The wind kicked in. As it died back down, Sonic was gone again. Rachel felt his words repeat themselves over and over again in her mind. She smiled, feeling a lot more confident and sure of herself. She went back inside and laid down for the night.


	9. Chapter 25, 26 and Epilogue

Chapter Twenty-Five:

The next morning, Rachel talked to Knuckles about slowing down their relationship. When she told him this, he hugged her and said, "We can take it as slow as you want, Rachel." Rachel smiled at this. That evening, just as the sun was setting, Rachel decided to go to the cemetery alone. She told Knuckles that it was something she needed to do by herself. She brought a bouquet of flowers. She wore the dress and necklace that Sonic had bought her for her birthday. She walked over to Sonic's grave. She knew exactly where it was, even though she hadn't attended his funeral. She couldn't stand seeing his lifeless body sitting in a coffin. She never would've been able to bare it. But she decided that visiting his final resting place may be the only way to let her mind rest in peace as well. She placed the flowers right on top of the dirt mound. She knelt beside the tombstone and closed her eyes. She grabbed the necklace with her right hand.

"I wish you were here right now…" she whispered. "I wish you could be here so that we could live in the same house and get married and have kids. I've longed for all of that ever since you left me. I want to feel your soft touch again." She looked up towards Heaven. "I know you've been watching over me. I know that you've visited me a couple of times. I can feel your presence with me everywhere I go. But it's not the same." She paused and took a deep breath, trying to fight back tears. "But you gave me the greatest gift of all. Something I have never had. Love, compassion, happiness… and the ability to fight of any amount of darkness and find the light. You helped me find a reason to live deep within the shadows. And no matter what, you helped guide me, and let me give birth to my own being. You gave me a life… A true life. Not some life trapped inside of a cage where not even the sun could reach it. You freed me. You saved my life." Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her voice choking. A smile spread across her face as she finished with, "Thank you." And with that, she kissed the stone and walked away, feeling Sonic's hand held tight in hers.

For the next few months, Rachel and Knuckles took their relationship slower. They declined down to just a light kiss and hugs, and then it grew to the point where they started making out. They had been in this stage for about a month, and Knuckles felt like he was ready to take the next step.

One morning, he sat restlessly on the couch, unable to stop thinking about Rachel. He tried to turn the TV on to get his mind off of her. He heard her bedroom door open and he saw her walk out of the room and yawn cutely, stretching her arms. She noticed her red boyfriend and smiled, her gorgeous eyes drooping.

"Good morning, handsome," she greeted. Knuckles felt his palms sweat. Aurora, she was _beautiful! _She was wearing a white cami that showed skin on the top of her chest. She had on blue and white flannel shorts. She was leaned up against the wall on her right shoulder. The way the light was hitting her made her look like an angel. Knuckles felt like he was about to drool. Rachel looked at him curiously.

"Knuckles? Are you ok?" Knuckles tore his eyes away from her.

"Um, yeah, I'm all right… So, uh… Why'd you get out of bed so late?" he asked nervously. Rachel slowly sat down next to him.

"I've been awake for awhile; I was just trying to convince myself to get out of bed. And I had to take the injection."

"Oh. I see. Uh, you hungry?" Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, but that's ok. I'll make breakfast." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked into the kitchen. Knuckles sunk down into the sofa. He watched the screen for awhile, his breaths short and fast. His mind raced with thoughts about him and Rachel in bed… He shook his head angrily, trying to stop the dirty thoughts. Suddenly, a commercial came on about male enhancement. (I've been seeing a lot of those lately. -_-) Knuckles' eyes went wide as he watched the commercial. His face burning bright red, he scrambled for the remote and shut the TV off, praying that Rachel hadn't heard it. But she already had. She laughed with pleasure.

"Aw, Knuckles, do you need help improving your performance in the bedroom?" Knuckles stared at her, his face redder than it had ever been. He felt so embarrassed… Why did it have to come on when he felt like sleeping with Rachel more than ever? Rachel grabbed her stomach, unable to contain her laughter at his flustered state. She leaned up against the countertop, no longer able to stand up straight. Knuckles sunk even lower into the couch. Rachel forgot the food and strolled over to him. She sat beside him and batted her eyelashes.

"Aw, don't be embarrassed, honey," she said. Knuckles at first looked at her eyes, and then, for a horrifying few seconds that he wished he could take back, he stared at her chest. For the first time, he realized how mature she was for her age. He accidentally licked his lips as lust controlled his mind. Rachel noticed where his eyes were looking and blushed. She turned away from him.

"K-Knuckles…" she whimpered with annoyance and discomfort. Knuckles snapped back to reality. He suddenly realized what he had done.

"I-I'm so sorry Rachel!" he quickly apologized. What was _wrong _with him? Why was he having such perverted thoughts out of nowhere? He looked away, feeling a mixture of shame and embarrassment. Rachel looked at him in shock as she noticed what was going on.

"You want to bang me, don't you Knuckles?" Knuckles shook his head, his face sweating.

"N-no! I mean… Well… I sort of… Just because I was looking at you like that doesn't mean I… Of course I don't want to!" But Rachel knew what was really going on in his mind. She smiled deviously, realizing that she was in control. She snuck closer to Knuckles, her chest puffed out slightly more. She pressed the side of it up against his arm. He began shaking with mortification.

She walked her fingers up his chest as she said, "Oh, Knuckles… It's ok. We can do it if you really want to." This time, it was Knuckles that was staring at her in shock.

"Really? I mean, we don't have to! I can understand if you're not ready! I mean, after what happened to you…" Rachel gave him a seductive stare.

"I'm ready. Are you?" Knuckles looked at her, his eyes full of plead.

His heart pounded with excitement as he replied, "Yes! Yes, I'm ready!"

Rachel giggled. "I figured you were. So then, shall we begin?" Knuckles smiled and wrapped his arms around her, eager to finally get started. He kissed her neck first. As Rachel started to fill with pleasure, she closed her eyes and let Knuckles take over. They leaned back against the arm of the couch, Knuckles on top. Knuckles slowly started to pull Rachel's cami up… Rachel opened her eyes. She stopped his hands short. Knuckles stopped and looked at her in confusion. Rachel smiled.

"Let's take this somewhere else." She said. Knuckles smiled.

"Ok." He picked her up and slowly took her to her room. In the doorway, Knuckles stopped. Rachel looked at him in concern.

"What's wrong, Knuckles?"

"Rachel, you don't have to do this just for me. We can save this for another time." He looked at her with worry. Rachel contemplated on it and then shook her head.

"I want to do this now. Besides, who's the virgin in this relationship? I don't think your manhood could take it much longer if we held off on it." she teased.

Knuckles looked away. "Shut up." Rachel giggled and brought his face back towards her. She kissed him and lifted herself up closer to him. Knuckles didn't know why, but he opened his eyes, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sonic standing in the living room.

"Knux…" he said. He smiled. "Don't hurt her, ok?" Knuckles nodded at him and said, "I won't. I promise." Rachel looked at him curiously.

"What?" Knuckles turned back to her.

"Nothing." He kissed her quickly and then brought her into the room. He laid her down on the bed, then turned around and shut the door. He went back to the bed and climbed on top of Rachel. He started where he left off. He pulled Rachel's cami off slowly and let it fall to the floor.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

"Oh Knuckles…" Rachel moaned with pleasure. All of their clothes were sprawled on the floor. They were under a green bed sheet, Knuckles still on top of her, but just barely. They continued to kiss. Knuckles broke the kiss, but kept his face closed to hers.

"I love you," he whispered his breaths short. Rachel smiled, her breathing pattern matching his.

"I love you too," she whispered back. They continued to make-out for a few minutes, and then Knuckles laid down beside Rachel, his right elbow propped up. Rachel looked at him, her face full of pure bliss.

"That was amazing," she said. Knuckles laughed.

"You don't have to tell me that!" Rachel smiled and held the bed sheet around herself.

"You did get pretty perverted with it halfway through…" she teased. Knuckles laughed again.

"You're calling _me _perverted? This from the girl who had some pretty horny things to say about her love action with Sonic." Rachel's face flushed.

"Y-you read that?!" Knuckles grinned.

"Yep." Rachel hit him in the chest, knowing that it wouldn't hurt him.

"Meddlesome echidna," she muttered. Knuckles kissed her again and laid down, letting Rachel lay on top of him.

"Aw, come on, you know you love me. Especially after what we just did." Rachel closed her eyes and smiled. They both sighed, feeling nothing but satisfaction.

After another hour together in bed, they both reluctantly got up and changed. They both went out into the living room and sat down on the loveseat. Knuckles held her hand tight while she leaned up against him. She looked up at the clock.

"I can't believe it's already noon…" she said.

"I can. It felt like we were in there for hours… And I wish we could stay in there longer." Rachel nuzzled her nose on his arm.

"I do too, but we couldn't just stay there forever." She looked at the kitchen and remembered that she hadn't eaten yet that day. Her stomach growled. She clutched it.

"I supposed it's a little too late for breakfast," she joked. Knuckles snickered.

"Ever heard of brunch?" Rachel hit him again. He stayed seated and turned on the TV while she walked out into the kitchen. Rachel noticed this and giggled.

"Gonna watch another commercial about male enhancement?" she kidded.

"Why, do I need to?" he replied slyly.

"No. I don't think erectile dysfunction is a problem for you." Knuckles colored again and sunk back into the cushion while Rachel tried to stifle another laugh.

For the next month, Knuckles thought really hard about asking Rachel to marry him. He knew it would be risky, but maybe she would say yes after all they had been through. So one day, he brought her out to a part of one of the forests on Angel Island. He felt his hands sweating nervously as he held hers. Once they got to a wide clearing, he sat her down in the middle of the soft, tall grass. The light shone through the trees perfectly on them. Rachel looked at the scene in awe. Knuckles smiled, knowing that he had chosen the perfect spot. He looked away for a moment, and then took a deep breath, preparing himself.

_Ok, here it goes. _He looked back at her.

"Rachel…" he started. Rachel looked at him, but didn't speak. Knuckles squeezed her hand tighter.

"We've been together for awhile now. We've dealt with great times, and some not so great times," he said, shuttering as he remembered his tantrum. Rachel continued to stare at him, refusing to say a word.

"I've been thinking a lot lately… And well, I've decided that I want to make you mine forever. And we both know there's only one way to do that." He took a small black box out of his glove. Rachel gasped as he placed it between them.

"Rachel…" he said, "I know it's going to be tough for you, but please…" he opened the box to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. "Will you marry me?" Rachel stared at it, speechless. Her mind raced with the memory of Sonic's proposal. What should she do? What could she do? Her mind started flickering back to that house in the forest. She saw Sonic's smiling face looking up at her. His lips mouthed the words, but she couldn't hear a thing. It all seemed like a dream, but yet it was happening right in front of her. She felt Sonic slipping the ring onto her finger, the warm metal binding itself to her with an eternal promise. All of the things the ring brought with it vibrated through her body and soul, becoming one with her. Rachel grabbed the ring on her finger, still caught in her dream. Knuckles looked at her with concern. Her grip remained firm, her eyes wide and distant. He gently shook her shoulder.

"Hey, Rachel… You there?" Rachel didn't respond. She simply backed away from him, her hand shaking.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" she murmured frantically. Knuckles took a step towards her. He grabbed both of her shoulders.

"Rachel! It's ok! Did you take your injection?" Rachel shook him off.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" Tears were pouring out now. She remembered his face, his smiling face as the other car ended all of his precious life so suddenly. Rachel screamed at the sky. At first, she fell to the ground, crying out in pain and sorrow. Knuckles tried to calm her down again. He gently took her hand away from the ring…

Rachel punched him in the cheek and took off at a dead sprint as far away from the forest as possible. She continued to cry as she re-gripped the ring, its searing pain of grief navigating its way through her mind.

She was on the edge of the island, her face damp with tears. She was knelt to the ground, her sobs ringing throughout the land.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" She looked up into the clouds.

"I should've saved you!" She moaned, "I could've saved you!" She felt Sonic's arms wrap around her waist. She let out a small gasp. He smiled.

"I never would've been able to live if I would've lived while you got killed," he replied. Rachel stayed facing forward, but tilted her head onto his left hand.

"Sonic…" she whimpered, "I don't want to bind myself to anybody else, even if it is Knuckles. No matter how much I love him, I can never do it… I could never betray you like that." Sonic laughed softly.

"How many times do I have to tell you Rachel? Whatever makes you happy is fine by me." Rachel looked back at him.

"But I…" Sonic put a finger on her lips.

"Shhhh… It won't hurt me if you marry Knuckles. But if you're not ready, then I understand." He hugged her tight. He kissed her forehead lightly. "Just please go and find him. He's worried about you." Rachel smiled and nodded. "Ok."

"Rachel! Rachel, where are you?!" Knuckles yelled for her for what felt like hours. His cheek was slightly swollen and throbbing in pain. He was surprised that Rachel could hit so hard. But he paid no attention to it. He had to find Rachel and apologize to her for asking her to marry him. He held the box with the ring inside in his palm. How could he have been so blind? His first mistake was not making sure that Rachel had taken the injection. His second mistake was thinking that Rachel was ready for marriage after such a traumatic event had happened to her. Although it had been practically a year ago, it still affected her today. He searched long and hard, but then he really started to worry. What if, in her panicked state, she had left the island? As this horrifying thought coursed through his conscious, his feet moved faster and faster, until he was at a dead sprint. He burst out of the trees and found himself on the edge of the island. He noticed Rachel sitting there, her feet dangled over the edge.

"Rachel!" As Rachel turned around, Knuckles hugged her as tight as he could, relief filling over his worry.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel," he apologized. Rachel shook her head in his chest and looked up at him.

"It's not your fault Knux. I'm the one who should apologize." She looked up at him and smiled sweetly.

"And the answer is yes." Knuckles lifted his head and stared at her in alarm.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered.

Rachel giggled. "I said the answer is yes. I will marry you." Knuckles felt his heart beat faster, his eyes twinkling in the evening sun. "Rachel…" He took the ring out of its resting place. Rachel looked at her engagement ring from Sonic sadly. Knuckles smiled at her kindly.

"You can keep that one on too." Rachel looked at him gratefully, a single tear escaping her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered. Knuckles slowly put the ring in front of the other one. Rachel hugged him tight.

"I promise I'll never leave you, and that I'll love you forever," Knuckles vowed. Rachel nodded.

"I promise too," she said. As they sat down and began to watch the sunset, they slowly began to fall asleep in each other's arms.

Epilogue:

As Rachel prepared for the wedding, she found her wedding dress that she had never gotten to wear for the actual ceremony with Sonic. She pulled it out of the closet and looked at it sadly, wondering if she should wear it. She shook her head and smiled to herself.

_No. This one should be left for Sonic. _She hugged it close to her and then hung it back up. She pulled out the other one she had bought, knowing that she was most likely going to decide against wearing the other one. She folded it as neatly as possible and put it into one of her many wedding bags. She put on a little bit of make-up and headed outside to meet up with Knuckles. Knuckles had his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently. When he heard her come out, he looked at her crossly, but once he saw her perfect figure, his heart lightened. He stared at her for the longest time. When he snapped back to his senses, he put his arm out to her in a mannerly gesture.

"Shall we head out?" he asked. Rachel blushed and nodded. She linked her arm in his.

"We should get to the ceremony location pretty fast. I think we're running a little behind…"

"Get there?" Rachel froze, her body rigid. Knuckles stared at her.

"What's wrong?" Rachel looked at him with insistent eyes.

"Please tell me we're not taking a car…" Knuckles smiled considerately.

"No, Rachel, we're having the ceremony here on the island, remember? There's no need for cars." Rachel let out a deep breath and resumed walking, her bags held tightly in her hand.

Knuckles paced back and forth, unable to even try to sit or stand still. Even now, with the girl he had fallen in love with so long ago, he was anxious. What if he stumbled over the words? What if something went horribly wrong? He tried to clear his mind, but the thoughts just wouldn't leave. What if seeing Rachel coming down the aisle in that stunning dress just made him lock up? What if… what if…?

"Are you ready, honey?" came a familiar female voice. Knuckles looked up and nearly feel over as he saw his mother standing there, smiling at him, with his baby step-brother in her arms.

"M-MOM?!"

Lara-Le put her hand over her mouth. "Oh… I'm sorry, sweetie, did I startle you?"

"Yeah, kind of!"

"I'm sorry, Knuckles. I just thought it would be a nice little surprise if I came to the biggest day of your life!" Knuckles' step-brother squirmed around and gurgled in Lara-Le's arms with excitement.

"But… How did you know about it?" Knuckles asked. Lara-Le smiled.

"Your lovely soon to be wife told me."

"Rachel…?" He suddenly remembered how he had told Rachel about his mother and how she was hiding with the other echidnas. His mother walked over to him and patted his shoulder lovingly.

"I know you're extremely nervous, honey, but I know you'll make it through. You make that girl very happy. And she makes you happy. You two will definitely be happy together." Knuckles smiled up at her, feeling suddenly reassured. He nodded.

"Thank you." Lara-Le kissed the top of his head. He took a deep breath and headed down the aisle.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the story! :D I felt that it was necessary to put a little love scene in there since about 75% of the book was totally tragic. Normally, I don't write scenes about people making love, but since this story was so sad, I thought I'd unleash a little bit of my perverted mind. :) I could write those kinds of scenes in other stories, but I will DEFINITELY not go into gross and uncessart details! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story, and please be on the look out for my other stories! Oh, and if you want me to, I COULD write a second book to this, but I probably won't. I thought I'd leave it up to you guys. That's why I left the ending open.

Happy reading! ^-^

~SonicKnuxMiku25096


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